Days
by AmiraStarr
Summary: Stories exploring various moments in the lives of your favorite chosen children. Inspired by Caenai-Gyoesari's 100 Theme Challenge for Writers, these tales will bring you to tears, laughter, and an occasional mixture of the two. If you are looking for a fun summer, or anytime of the year read, this just might be the story collection for you!
1. Earth

**Author's Note: I do not own Digimon. Such a shame! : (**

**I know I should be working on my other fics, but they are on a semi-halt until I get a plot happy beta. Planning out complicated plots is hard to do alone lol. Anyway, until then I have decided to try the 100 theme challenge by Devientartist ****Caenai-Gyoesari. The themes will not be in order and may not follow a straight linear path. But I will make sure to give you a clue if you need one about dates or other important factors. : ) Now, I shall start the challenge tales with the theme of Earth:**

* * *

"Neaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"

The sound grated against the eleven-year-old's ears and forced her to clench her pencil a little to tightly. The wood snapped as the last strand of her patience came to a sudden death.

"Neaaaahhhh!" The five-year-old storm of destruction, also known as Daisuke, ran into the room holding a rather unattractive monster figurine in his pudgy hands. "Watch out puny humans! It's Yucholl!"

"Daisuke."

"You can't get away from the biggest alien in the whole world!" The boy stomped around the room kicking a few of his stuffed toys around the floor.

"Daisuke."

"Ahhhh, not Yucholl!" He raised the pitch of his voice and had the monster figure attack a stuffed rabbit viciously.

"Daisuke!"

"Cosmic blast!" The child shouted and threw the rabbit so high in the air it hit the ceiling fan. Daisuke hit the floor quickly, as the bunny was slung by the blade and hit one of the adjacent walls.

"That is it!" Jun Motomiya fumed as the rabbit plopped onto her desk. "No more space aliens! Why can't you play quietly for five minutes?!"

"That's boring. I wanna play space aliens. It's the best game ever." He held up the action figure and tried to show his sister how cool it was, "See, Yucholl is the boss of all the other aliens and he is really, really, really, really powerful!"

The girl rolled her amber eyes at the ugly doll and wondered how long this toy would stand up to destructo-boy. Then again, maybe she could use this to her advantage. Whether it was the frustration or the desire to get back at her brother for being a complete pain all day, Jun wasn't sure. What the pre-teen did know was that she had an idea. A wonderful idea, that was bound to bring her some peace.

"I wouldn't talk about aliens if I were you."

"Why?" The boy cradled the action figure to his chest.

"Well, you know why you like them so much don't you?"

"Cause they are neat?"

"Nope. It is because you are one of them."

The boy's mouth dropped quickly and he immediately shook his head, "No way!"

"Think about it. I am an Earthling and I don't like aliens. But you do. So…"

"But mom would tell me if I was an alien!"

"Don't you remember when you asked mom where you came from?" The child nodded his head slowly and seemed rather nervous. "She got all panicky and wouldn't tell you because she was afraid the aliens would come back and destroy everybody in the city."

"Really?"

"Yep. I wasn't supposed to tell you, but if you want to stay safe you shouldn't talk about aliens or play aliens."

"Or what?" He gulped.

"They'll destroy the entire city."

Daisuke backed out of the room with wide eyes and a mouth that seemed to be trying and failing repeatedly to make an intelligible sentence. The tale had gotten into his over active imagination and seemed to be doing its job quite well. Jun smiled smugly and leaned back in her chair. Who knew little kids could be so easy to trick?

After hiding his Yucholl doll under the living room couch for safekeeping, Daisuke headed out of the apartment. The complex's small play area was always bustling with his friends from kindergarten and he was desperate to share his secret with someone. He wasn't supposed to go out without an adult or his sister, but this was too important to wait for a grownup. His mom would understand when he told her that he knew he was really an alien. Aliens were big and brave so they could do what they wanted.

"Mao!" Daisuke cried out as he spotted one of his best friend's perched atop the monkey bars.

"Hi Daisuke." The boy waved and motioned for his friend to join him on the monkey bars.

The brunette climbed the metal bars with little difficulty and sat down next to his friend. He swung his feet wildly as excitement and nerves washed over him. Wouldn't his friend be shocked to learn that he was a real alien? If anyone knew how cool Yucholl was, it was Mao. He had every Yucholl toy there was!

"Guess what." A cheeky smile spread over his little face, "I'm an alien."

"An alien?!"

"Shhhh!" Daisuke put a single finger to his lips and checked to see if any of the kids had heard Mao's outburst. "You gotta keep it a secret."

"Why?"

"Cause if they hear me the aliens will destroy the city. I'm not allowed to tell people cause it's a big secret."

"I don't believe you." Mao furrowed his thin brows and shook his head.

"It's true! My sister said so and she is _really_ old. She's like 11!"

"Prove it."

"How?"

"Yucholl can fly. If you are an alien you have to be able to fly too." Mao lay the terms on the ground and seemed rather set on the test of alien-hood.

"Fine!" Daisuke's stubborn pride bubbled up and pushed the little common sense he had out the window. If Mao didn't believe his secret, he would prove it! Daisuke knew his friend would feel pretty dumb once he saw the boy's alien skills in full effect. If only Jun had told him this secret earlier! He could have flown all the time, just like Yucholl.

Daisuke stood up slowly and wobbled a bit before he found his balance. Some of the other kids stopped playing and gathered around to watch the boy breaking the rules their parents had taught them. Mao, caught up in the excitement of the moment, cheered his friend on and encouraged the other kids to follow his lead. Daisuke smiled widely at the group and leapt from the monkey bars with all his might.

"**Daisuke Motomiya don't jump from tha-**"

The last bit of the speech was lost on the boy as he hit the ground with a hard thud. A sharp pain spread through his arm and brought tears to the little boy's eyes. In his mouth he could taste a strange coppery flavor that felt horrible running down his throat. As the kids began to run from the scene, the boy felt a warm hand gingerly touch his back.

**XXX**

Jun could barely look at her little brother as he sat in the ER room. His little arm was wrapped in a large blue cast and two of his teeth were now missing and most likely hidden in the playground dirt. She had never expected him to go out and jump off the monkey bars. Why would he do something so dumb anyway?

"I'm not a good alien or a good brother, am I?" Daisuke mumbled heartbreakingly as they waited for their parents to finish talking with the nurses.

"What?" She looked at the child with surprised eyes and tried to keep her guilt in check. "Why would you say that?"

"Cause I kept bothering you and got you in trouble with mom and dad… and I couldn't fly like Yucholl…"

Jun bit her lip and wrapped an arm around her baby brother, "No. You are a good brother. I… I just wanted you to stop yelling while I was doing my homework. I should have done the whole thing differently."

"Am I still an alien?" The large brown eyes staring at Jun were so filled with hope that she couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah. You'll always be my little alien. But remember, brother aliens can't fly."

"Walk through walls?"

"No."

"Oh! Can I shoot lasers from my eyes? Or grow extra arms?"

"No. And only if you eat Brussels sprouts." She winked at the child as a look of disgust came over his face.

"Never mind. Nothing is worth that!"

* * *

**There you go. : ) End of theme one! More coming soon.**


	2. Birth

**Author's Note: I do not own Digimon. Such a shame! : (**

**All right kiddos, this next section will cover the theme of birth. : )**

* * *

It was hot in the overcrowded city of Tokyo. The sun had been scorching the usually beautiful landscape for over a week, and the residents were beginning to loose their patience with the heat wave. Sweaty people tired of their legs sticking to the plastic of their chairs, and ready to beat down anyone who got in their way, bustled through the streets with expressionless faces.

Natsuko fanned herself with a catalogue and watched the children outside her window attempt to cook an egg on the sidewalk. Her free hand subconsciously rubbed her extended abdomen as the fetus inside offered a strong kick. She had been through heat waves before, but being pregnant through a heat wave was a fresh hell she had never expected.

"I think I fixed it." Her husband joined her in the living room of their shoebox sized apartment and offered his wife a grin. "We should be feeling the air any minute now."

The window unit, situated in the only bedroom, offered a loud thunk and began to emit a whirring noise that pushed Natsuko's spirits up. She hadn't married Hiroaki for his technical skills, which she wasn't entirely sure were in his arsenal at all. They didn't have the money to hire someone, and between the two of them his patience level was the only one high enough at the moment to try messing with the demon air machine.

"Why is it putting out hot air?" She asked as the first breeze hit her face and forced a few more sweat droplets to form on her pale skin.

"It isn't hot. You're just not giving it enough time to circulate."

"It is hot air, Hiroaki." She waved her fan harder and waddled over to the contraption. "You set it to the heater!"

"No!" He quickly denied the statement and charged over to the machine. "Look, it is on the water drop symbol. Ergo, cold air."

"That is a faded sun symbol." She growled feeling a new wave of heat and hormones overtake her, "_Ergo_, hot air."

The man remained quiet for a moment and considered his options. The last thing he wanted to do was admit to such a stupid mistake, but he might not live long enough to admit to anything if he started an argument with a wife six days past her due date. He took a deep breath and decided to take a dive, just like he had for the past nine months.

"Okay. I'll try and switch it. Hand me the pliers."

With tool in hand, Hiroaki kneeled down before the unit and attempted to fiddle with the main control switch. The stubborn piece refused to budge, so he placed both hands on the pliers and used as much strength as he could muster. The switch popped of in a snap and shot across the room. As the grown man cursed under his breath the unit offered one more thunk and completely shut down.

"Piece of crap…" He grumbled while his wife walked over to the bathroom.

"The lights aren't working either. It must be a bro-"

"What?" Hiroaki turned to look at his wife when she stopped in mid-sentence, and immediately noticed her clutching her stomach. "What is it? Is it time? Is it the baby?!"

"I don't know…" She breathed out and tried to remember the skills her birthing class had taught her. "Maybe, it just hurts. It really hurts."

"Okay, okay." Hiroaki stood up in a flash and seated his wife on the edge of their bed. "Just breath, breath. Remember the llamas."

"Lamaze!" Natsuko growled as a stronger surge of pain hit her abdomen and sent her into a new level of discomfort.

"I'll get the suitcase and the doctor… and uh…. And the camera! Where is that camera?"

"Forget the camera." She whimpered and tried to stand up from the bed, "We have to get to the hospital. It hurts so much. What if something is wrong with the baby?"

"Nothing's wrong." He kissed her forehead and tried to help lead her to the front door. "The baby is going to be fine. It will be a perfect little boy or girl."

"I hope so- OH!" Natsuko cringed and grabbed at her abdomen as another pain spike hit her.

Hiroaki wrapped her arm around his neck and slowly walked the woman out to their car. He propped her against the outside wall of the building and tried in vain to start the engine of their prehistoric vehicle. The paint was scratched, the windows often stuck in place, and the engine was as reliable as snow in July but it generally got the job done. Besides, everything was going to change once he got the promotion at work. By the time their kid was a year old he would have a car any son or daughter would be proud of.

"Honey?" Natsuko called desperately to her husband as the man tried in vain to start the vehicle. The pains were increasing and judging by the amount of neighborhood children watching her, so was her popularity. "We really have to get to the hospital…"

"Why are you so fat?" One of the little girls walked up to Natsuko and stared at her extended belly in surprise. "You're huuuggeee."

"I'm pregnant. That is a baby not fat." Natsuko mumbled through clenched teeth as she rode out a contraction. "Please, Hiroaki. We have to go."

"You ate it?!" The little girl's eyes popped open in surprise and fear as she took in the sight of the cringing adult.

"No. I didn't eat it. Owww…" Natsuko bent over and clutched the front of her gut. How did women decided to go through this process more then once?

"Then how did it get in there?"

"Hiroaki! Please…"

"How?"

"The car is shot. I can't get the engine started. We have to find another way to get there, Nat."

"You're really fat." Chimed another little kid as he joined the growing crowd.

"How did it get in there?! How? How?!" The impatient child stomped her foot and joined the growing chorus of children's voices.

"I had sex! Okay?!" Natsuko yelled out the answer as her pain and patience levels reached critical points. "Now get me to the hospital before I have this baby in the middle of the sidewalk!"

The final scream garnered the attention of a nearby officer. It wasn't everyday a frazzled woman screamed that sort of thing in front of a group of children. As he neared the scene, he noticed the woman slump forward and clutch her belly. The man wrapped his arms around her and tried to keep her standing up. The kids on the other hand seemed to be busy chatting amongst themselves in loud voices. Overall, it was the oddest scene the man had ever witnessed on his patrol.

"Ew! She peed on herself!" The first little girl shouted over the crowd and jumped back from the pair of adults.

As the children leapt back from the duo, the officer stepped forward and tried to help hold Natsuko up, "Are you alright?"

"Please," The woman groaned desperately as she felt the progression of labor quicken, "Take me to the hospital and get the good pain drugs."

**XXX**

Natsuko sat sideways in the backseat with her back propped against Hiroaki. The young man was scared, but tried his best to help his wife stay focused on the event at hand. He had promised her that this baby would be okay, and he would be damned if anything happened to turn the situation otherwise. Natsuko trembled as another contraction hit and he kissed the top of her head tenderly.

"It's okay. I'm right here with you. Just keep breathing."

"It hurts... it hurts so much." She closed her eyes tightly as the officer flipped on his siren and began to navigate the busy roadways.

"I know honey. But you can do it. You are the bravest, toughest lady I know." Hiroaki rubbed her shoulders and tried to lead her in some of the deep breathing techniques they had been taught in the child classes. "If anyone can do it, you can Natsuko."

She tilted her head back and stared up into the dark brown eyes of her husband. Maybe he wasn't perfect, but in her eyes he was amazing. They weren't rich or famous, but they were together. As long as she had him next to her, she believed she could do anything. She just prayed giving birth fell into the anything category.

"You're the only…" She winced, "Person I would ever want to do this with Hiroaki."

"I love you Nat." He kissed her head once more and held onto her as the strongest pain yet ripped through her body.

"It's coming! THE BABY IS COMING!" She screamed as loud as possible in the patrol car.

"Change of plans." The officer spoke up as he hit a wall of traffic that was refusing to allow him entrance. "I think we are going to have to do this here and now."

"What? We can't have a baby in a police car?!" Hiroaki held onto his wife's shoulders as the officer pulled onto the side of the road.

"Just get him out!" Natsuko cried loudly, no longer caring where the baby was born. All she needed was to get her child out before the contractions got any worse.

"Don't worry, I was trained to deliver babies in the academy." The officer radioed in the emergency call and opened the door closest to Natsuko's legs.

The whole situation left Hiroaki in a frozen daze. Never in his wildest dreams could he picture an officer kneeled between his wife's legs, telling her he could see the babies head and that it was time to push. Natsuko held onto his hand and gritted her teeth as she gave the first push. The pain from her grip was incredibly strong, but in that moment Hiroaki found himself far to concerned with the health of the most important people in his world to complain.

"One more push. You almost have it." The officer told Natsuko who whimpered and shook her head.

"I can't do it…" Tears began to stream down the sides of her face, "I can't push anymore. I can't do it."

"Yes you can." Hiroaki squeezed her hand and kissed her wet cheek lovingly, "The Natsuko I know can do anything."

"Okay…" Her chest heaved up and down and she furrowed her brow, "Just one more. That's it!"

The sharp cry of a newborn infant was the next sound the police car trio heard. The infant was far from clean, but he was the most beautiful thing either of his parents had ever seen. The officer laid the child on Natsuko's chest and offered the proud parents a large smile.

"Congratulations, you have a beautiful little boy."

"Oh baby," Natsuko cried and wrapped her arms around the tiny child, "Oh my sweet baby."

Hiroaki kissed his wife's lips as the sound of the ambulance siren reached his ears. "Thank you for everything, officer…?"

"It's Yamato. Oshiro Yamato." The officer smiled kindly at the new family and prayed they and their new little boy lived a long and happy life.

* * *

**I tried to figure out what Yamato's birthday was before I started this chapter. There was a debate between May and April, so I will just call him a Spring baby lol. **


	3. Love

**Author's Note: I do not own Digimon. Still, such a shame. : (**

**I would like to send a big thank you out to SJC-Caron for giving me a review. Your kind words are greatly appreciated. **

**Now, this next chapter is about the topic of Love. Here you go my dears:**

* * *

The tape glided smoothly over the box and enclosed its contents in darkness. He picked up the cardboard and placed it on top of the growing pile to his left. Thankfully his packages mainly consisted of computer equipment and a few novels. The heaviest items were being saved for the professional movers.

"I'm sorry to make you pack boxes on your birthday." Masami Izumi entered the room carrying a glass of lemonade in her hand. "It isn't much of a nineteenth is it?"

"It couldn't be helped, mom." He took the glass of lemonade from her and downed half of it in one swig. "It isn't your fault the mold came. Besides, I have plans to meet the others later tonight. So there is plenty of time to help you and dad move to the new apartment."

A kind smile spread across her lips and her hand reached out to gently smooth the wild red hairs on her son's head. She and her husband always knew they were lucky to have Koushiro in their lives. Far luckier then any average parent, because this special little boy came to them the moment they thought their world was crumbling. He had needed them just as much as they needed him. It always amazed her how such a beautiful family could form from the ashes of such tragedies.

"Thank you." She took the empty glass from the boy and motioned to his boxes, "Why don't you take those to the new apartment and meet the movers? I can finish up things here."

"Sure." He picked up a few of the boxes in his arms and looked over his shoulder at her, "Love you mom. I'll see you soon."

**XXX**

The movers hadn't reached the new apartment by the time Koushiro pulled into the parking area. He pocketed the door key and hauled the few boxes he had brought along to the door. The key stuck in the lock, but he was able to jiggle it and gain access to apartment. He flicked on the first light switch he came to and stared in shock at the amount of boxes piled around the main room.

"I guess dad is a little behind on his end of the deal."

After setting his boxes in the smaller of the two bedrooms, Koushiro came back into the main room and tried to organize the remaining boxes according to their labels. As far as any one could remember, Koushiro Izumi had been a master of any and all logic puzzles. But the moving boxes proved to be a rather strong test of his mental capabilities and patience.

"Who packs bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen items in the same box?"

The bizarrely labeled boxes forced him to take a new policy. If he was going to get any order in this mess, he was going to have to open everything up and sort it away himself. He selected the largest box in the room and ripped the tape from the top. Inside was a collection of towels, a few pieces of silverware, and a shoebox. He put each of the items in separate piles and found himself drawn to the shoebox.

Inside the box was a large wad of papers and sticky notes that held various scribbled messages. He shuffled through them curiously and stopped when he discovered a thick envelope. On the front of the envelope was written, _Koushiro for your 18__th__ birthday_. The red head raised an eyebrow skeptically and tried to imagine his family forgetting to give him a birthday card. It wasn't like his mother to lose track of the mail. Then again the letter didn't have a stamp on it or any postage markings.

"Who could have written this? I haven't seen this handwriting bef-"

He paused in midsentence as he turned the letter over and noticed another inscription on the back flap, _Love, Okaasan_.

It wasn't possible. Koushiro dropped the letter onto the wooden floor and tried to regain his logical side. How could his mother have written him a letter like that? And why wouldn't his adoptive parents have shown him the letter? Ever since the entire story had come out into the open, Koushiro had enjoyed the fact his family no longer held secrets. There were no longer hushed conversations he wasn't included in and distant relatives he was not told of.

Did they even know about the letter? As millions of questions began to rumble and tumble through his mind, Koushiro sat down on the floor and picked the envelope up once more. There were no signs of tamperment and he trusted his mother and father enough to believe they wouldn't snoop in his mail. The big question remaining was should he read the letter?

A deep breath filled his lungs before he forced his finger to tear open the edge of the envelope. Whatever was on the paper was one of the last messages his birth mother had ever left for him. How could he go the next 19 years without reading this message? There was no way his curiosity would allow him any peace until he read that document.

"Happy 18th birthday my dear Koushiro," He read the words aloud in a whisper and had to take a moment to compose himself before continuing.

"As I write this letter, you are sleeping peacefully in your bassinet. You have been in that beautiful bed so little that it seems strange to see you laying in it now. Your father always teases me that I will spoil you by letting you sleep in my arms all day, but you are my baby and a little spoiling never hurt anyone. I decided to write to you because of an event that happened only a few days ago.

Your obaasan, my mother, Kazuko passed away from a heart attack. I know you will most likely not remember her, but I am sure she will never forget you. Our family is very small, but you brought us together with your little smile and sparkly eyes. The last time I brought you to see her, she held you close and told me to treasure each moment I have with you. She said these moments fade away so fast and leave us with only distant memories, before we are ever ready to say goodbye.

So let me say to you now Koushiro, I love you. I love you more then you will ever know and I will love you with ever fiber in my soul. You are the product of a romance that survived each obstacle thrown in its way with strength and courage. You are the child of loving, intelligent, and kind parents who wish only the best for you in the years to come.

As you grow up and learn what this world is all about, I know we will probably have times where we fight. There will be hard times when it seems like there is nothing we could have or ever will have in common. There will be times when you swear that your heart is too broken to ever be put back together. But there will also be times when your stomach hurts from laughing so hard and your face is coated in tears of pure joy. There will be times when you find yourself filled with so much love you'll be surprised your heart doesn't burst at the seams. Remember my son, a good life is not one in which pain never enters. A good life is one where the moments of love and joy outnumber those of sadness and pain.

By the time you read this letter, you will no longer be an infant. I can picture you in my mind as a handsome young man ready to take on the world. What is just a small patch of red hair now, will probably be a thick coating that could easily rival your father's own. I pray that your beautiful eyes will retain the same sparkle of curiosity. Never let that fire in your soul be diminished by the world. Too many beautiful things are destroyed by society, and I will do my best to make sure you will never be one of them.

As you go through your adulthood I hope you always remember to be a part of life and not watch it pass you by. Whether you enjoy spending quiet times with an intimate group or exploring the social scene with a huge gang of people, I hope you find your joy in life. I hope you take time to smell the roses, to dance in the rain, to get dirty, and to make mistakes. As your father always says, You can't learn anything until you have fallen down a few times first.

Remember that no one can love and respect you if you don't care about yourself. Do not settle for people who wish to use you or can't see how amazing you are. When you find the right person to spend the rest of your life with, you will know it. There is something magical about meeting that person for the first time. Always look out for that special spark so many people miss. And remember that no matter whom you marry, they will never be good enough for you in our eyes. No one will ever be good enough for our Koushiro, but we will open our hearts and love whomever you bring into our family. We merely request at least one grandchild to spoil rotten.

You are stirring in your bassinet now, so I am going to wrap up this letter my special little fellow. I have said it before and I have written it countless times in this letter, but I will tell you once again (and for the rest of your life) that I love you. Your father and I love you more then anything in this world. We will always be proud to be your parents. No matter what path you take in life, we will be with you in each beat of your heart. You are Koushiro and you are the most special child on this planet.

I love my dear, and will see you soon.

Love for always,

Okaasan."

As the letter came to a close, Koushiro wiped away some of the tears that had escaped his eyes during the reading. Aside from the handwritten letter, a picture of a couple and their infant was enclosed in the envelope. He stared at the image and noted the strong similarities between himself and the slender man standing next to the woman. The lady held the newborn close to her chest and smiled at the child. They were a perfect little family. They were _his_ little family.

Koushiro took a deep breath and tried to wipe a few more stray tears from his eyes. A cheery tune started to fill the quiet room and forced the boy to pull his phone out of his pocket. He knew the caller's identification from the song that played and merely flipped the phone open without looking.

"Hello?"

"Koushiro?" Tai's friendly voice flooded through the speaker and helped settle Koushiro's spinning head. "Where are you? Your mom said that you were going to drop some boxes off then meet up with us."

"I, uh... got a little distracted unpacking." He cleared his throat and tried to spot a clock in the room. How long had he been lost in the letter?

"Are you okay? You sound like your voice is breaking up."

"Yes. I'm fine. I was just unpacking some boxes and got a little dust in my system."

"How is the moving going, by the way? Did you end up finding all the things you thought you had lost years ago?"

A laugh escaped the young adult's mouth as he pictured Taichi trying to find anything in his messy room. Of course, the brunette did have a point. He had never expected to find something so deeply rooted in his past, by merely unpacking some boxes. Now that he had found the letter, he couldn't imagine letting it go or not having it in his possession.

"Yeah."

"What did you find?"

"The love of my birth parents."


	4. Sadness

**Author's Note: Still don't own Digimon… I have to work on that lol.**

**I would like to give a huge shout-out to the lovely Kal-El Fornia! You are an amazing reviewer and a pretty talented author. : )**

**Now, here is the theme of Sadness:**

* * *

Takenouchi Sora sat at the café table and browsed halfheartedly through a magazine filled with various pop culture lies. A light breeze blew through her hair and brought the delicious smells of the bakery to her consciousness. She spared a glance at her wristwatch and felt the inside of her stomach churn in a desperate plea for lunch. After carving out a spot in an already busy day, the least her friend could do was show up on time. But fifteen minutes into their lunch date and Mimi had yet to show up or even call.

"Five more minutes and then I am getting food with or without her." The girl groaned and laid a hand over her complaining stomach, "You're only this loud when we are in public aren't you?"

Mimi had never been the most time conscious member of their rag tag group, but she usually alerted her friends when she was going to be over ten minutes late to an event. Ever since they had graduated into the world of adulthood, the entire group had been thrust into hectic schedules that allowed little to no free time. Sora had at least three meetings and a business dinner to attend that day alone, but when Mimi had called her to plan a lunch she hadn't been able to turn the girl down. Sora loved seeing her friend and in the back of her mind knew the pregnant Mimi would have fallen to pieces if her friend couldn't have spared a little time for her. Pregnancy hormones had never met a better host then Tachikawa Mimi.

As the time on her watch hit the five-minute mark, Sora stood up and charged towards the bakery. She'd wait at the location for Mimi, but without a little food there would just be a carcass by the time the other girl arrived. A few steps from the bakery door, Sora caught sight of a rather peculiar image barreling down the sidewalk.

Mimi's eyes were bloodshot and she seemed to be collecting tissues like a squirrel collected nuts in winter. The normally well-put together woman sniffled into one of her tissues and forced her way through the crowds to Sora. Instinctively, Sora's eyes scanned Mimi's body for some sign of injury or illness. But there was nothing out of place on the tall woman. Aside from the uncontrollable tears, she looked fine.

"Oh, Sora." She mumbled and gave another sniffle.

"Are you alright? Did something happen to the baby? Is everyone okay?"

"No. Everyone isn't okay!"

"What happened?" Sora's voice tried to stay steady as her worry level increased. She wrapped an arm around Mimi's shoulders and directed her to the table farthest away from the other customers.

"I just can't believe it…"

"What Mimi?" Sora motioned to one of the workers to bring a glass of water for the distraught girl, then turned her attention back to Mimi, "Is it someone in your family? Is that the problem?"

"Yes…" She blew her nose as lady like as possible and felt a few more tears fall down her cheeks.

"Your parents? Your husband?"

"No. It isn't them." She took the water placed at their table and swallowed a rather large amount. In her current state she didn't even notice the nervous look on the waiter who quickly backed away from their table.

"Is it… is it the baby?"

"Yes." Mimi turned to look at Sora with tears in her eyes, "I just… I can't believe it, Sora. I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Oh, don't worry. No matter what is wrong you'll have your friends here to help out. We can take care of whatever is wrong. Just tell me and we can figure out a whole plan of action. I won't leave you until we figure this out, I promise."

"Re-" The girl hiccupped due to the sporadic breaths she had been taking for quite a while, "Really?"

"Yes. I promise I'll help you Mimi. Just tell me what is wrong."

"I'm… I'm," Mimi took another long drink of water and let the news blurt out of her mouth, "I'm having a boy!"

The words took a rather long time to enter Sora's brain and make it through the various levels of thought. When a person expects to hear news devastating enough to reduce a grown woman to this state, a lesser statement can throw them for quite a loop. The millions of horrific images and problems that had flashed through Sora's mind had been far more terrifying then what Mimi had just uttered.

"What?" Sora said slowly and firmly as her annoyance level grew.

"I know!" Mimi missed the point and continued to speak openly about what she viewed as a huge predicament. "I can't raise a boy!"

"You are _this_ upset because you are having a boy?" Sora sighed and rested her head in her hands for a moment. "You had me thinking it was a horrible problem."

"But it is," Mimi began to talk with her hands as she tried to explain the situation from her viewpoint. "I can't raise a boy. I don't know anything about trucks and dirt."

"That is not a big problem. You had me thinking the poor baby was missing a vital organ or had some incurable disease."

Mimi's face was beginning to show a little guilt and shame as Sora discredited her problem. It hadn't been the girl's goal to make her friend feel like a heel, she just had trouble accepting Mimi's view on the situation. There were so many children in the world who had real problems from birth, and here Mimi was having a panic attack over the fact her child was a boy. Then again, this was a semi-mild emotional attack compared to the earlier months of Mimi's pregnancy.

"Mimi," Sora sighed and tried to reminded herself that the rational side of Mimi was somewhere under all of those hormonal fears. "I know you are worried about having a son, but aren't you happy the baby is healthy?"

"I am. I want to be a mother, I really do." She sighed softly and twirled one of the unused tissues between her hands nervously. "But how can I be a good mother to a boy? I don't know anything about them. I was so sure that I would have a little girl to dress up and take to the ballet. I don't even know where you'd take a little boy. Dirt conventions? Do they even have those?"

"You know that not every boy likes dirt and trucks, right? Besides, you could just as easily have gotten a girl who hated dressing up and liked dirt."

Mimi pondered that thought for a moment, but still fought for her side of the discussion, "I just wanted someone I could share my love of fashion with. I always pictured myself cooking and sewing and shopping with a little mini me. She'd be so cute in a matching dress and we'd travel to Paris and Rom-"

"Mimi," Sora sighed and softly laid a hand on her friend's nervously twitching one, "Do you remember what I was like as a kid?"

"Sure. You were brave and you practically took care of the little kids."

Sora smiled kindly at her friend, silently appreciative that her good qualities remained more vibrant in Mimi's memory versus the bad, "Thanks. But I was also a tomboy whose mother begged her to settle down and try more feminine pursuits."

This time Mimi gave her a silent stare as the wheels in her head began to turn at increasing speeds. It was hard for the girl to imagine that the lovely woman in front of her was once a tomboy determined to beat each boy on the soccer team. But it was a completely true statement. Sora hadn't been anything like her mother expected, but if you looked at them now you wouldn't believe there was ever a time they didn't see eye to eye.

"You know," Sora smiled brightly at her friend, "You can still dress up your boy. They have tons of adorable outfits for boys in those new stores on the other side of town."

"Well I do love those tiny bowties…" Mimi admitted with a tiny smile.

"And what if your son turns out to like ballet? Maybe he'll be a dancer or maybe he'll be a surgeon."

"Prime minister?" The girl offered with a wider grin.

"Yes. Even that is an option." Sora laughed tenderly and gave her friend a playful tap on the shoulder, "The point is, that you never know what you're getting. Boy or girl, each child is a blank canvas that hasn't been written on yet. You'll just have to wait and see what dreams are in your child's heart."

"You're right." Mimi smiled fully for the first time since their meeting had started and grabbed hold of Sora's hand, "You're absolutely right, Sora."

"I am glad you feel better. Now how about we get some lunch then go shop for some baby clothes?" She raised her free hand to try and get the waiter's attention.

"We have to get some of those bowties and little hats with cat ears. They are very popular overseas right now." Mimi stood up and pulled Sora's hand to make her follow suit.

"Sure, but can't we eat first? I'm starving, Mimi." Sora's eyes stared longingly at the neighboring table's food.

"We can eat anytime." Even at 20 weeks, Mimi was able to pull out that odd inner strength she used only for fashion emergencies. "I have a son to shop for Sora. We have to hit up every baby boutique in town."

"Fine," Sora groaned as her stomach made a large protest. She pulled her hand out from Mimi's grip and stood up slowly, "But I am getting a melonpan first!"

As Sora charged ahead of Mimi, the pregnant woman shook her head and jokingly said, "So dramatic over a little sweat bread… Then again, Sora get two!"

* * *

**I hope Mimi wasn't that out of character here. I have very rarely used her in stories, so I am a tad rusty. This one was completely inspired by the image in the end of season 2 where we had a rather long epilogue to the series so far. I am not too big of a fan of that epilogue, but I did find it interesting Mimi had a son and not a daughter. I figured they would give her a little girl. But honestly, I side with Sora in this one. I figure what ever makes the kid (boy or girl) happy is cool. Ballet or monster trucks, I'll let them pick. : )**


	5. Balance

**Author's Note: Still not the owner of Digimon. Depressing, no?**

**I have been corresponding with the cool Kal-El Fornia (author of the story **_**A Home at the End of Japan **_**and many other fascinating tales you should definitely read), who offered a new idea for this story's title. So thanks to Kal-El, I can now present this collection of drabbles as **_**Days**_**. **

**Now here is the next theme, Balance:**

* * *

Life had been going pretty well for Ishida Yamato. He was a mere year away from leaving high school behind him, the digital and non-digital worlds had been following a rather peaceful course, and his band had been offered the opportunity to create an official music video with a not-to-shabby recording label. Overall, life was pretty perfect. But in the dark recesses of his mind, Yamato was waiting nervously for the bad news to drop.

He had gone through multiple courses of action to ensure that the strange wave of good fortune did not leave him until the video was finished. Takeru had described Yama's new calisthenics routine as healthy, though strange. Sora had labeled his millions of practice sessions as intelligent future planning. While, Taichi viewed the nervous pacing and swearing off of dairy and caffeine products as a quick trip to lunacy.

By the day of the video shoot a tired Yamato was pacing nervously in his kitchen, while Takeru and Tai enjoyed a large breakfast. Tai, whether due to forgetfulness or mean-spirited cruelty (Yama hadn't decided yet), was taking particularly long sips of his large coffee. He set the cup of liquid energy down on the table and looked at Yama curiously.

"I'm starting to think you are getting ready to explode at any minute."

"Wouldn't surprise me." TK mumbled as he took a bite of eggs. "He has been up since 5 am cooking this huge breakfast. You haven't even tasted this stuff, Yama. It won't do you any good to show up to the set starving."

"I'm fine." The answer was flat and emotionless, as every ounce of energy in the musician's body remained dedicated to stopping his various twitches.

"There isn't any pressure. They already like your group, or they wouldn't have picked you." Tai sipped his tempting coffee and completely missed the longing look in Yamato's eyes.

"This label is pretty big." Yama pulled his eyes from the coffee and sat at the table with the boys. He chewed on a piece of un-buttered toast and let out a sigh, "If this video shoot doesn't go good, the band could get black listed."

"What?" TK and Tai exchanged looks of equal confusion.

"Black listed. It basically is code for groups that are either too much of a challenge or to bad at their music to work with. All the big wigs in the industry know who is on that list. Until you get a CD or two out you have to be careful who you piss off."

"Who knew music was so vicious." Tai whistled under his breath as the surprise washed over him. He couldn't help but wonder how some of the horrible artists got their CDs made if the system was so strict. "How about I go with you? Moral support and all."

"I don't know-"

"That would be a great idea." TK interrupted and smiled at his big brother, "You've always had at least one of the group at your concerts, so maybe it will help you focus. You can look at Tai if you get nervous and just pretend it is a normal gig."

"Just tell them I'm a manager or something." Tai's grin was widening as he grew to like this plan more.

"I don't know. I'm not sure if I can even bring anyone besides the band."

"He could be your roadie for the day." TK suggested.

"Yeah. I could be a road-" Tai paused as the word sunk into his brain, "What? A roadie? Can't I be security or a bodyguard or something else?"

Yama smiled, silently gaining revenge for the tempting coffee Tai had smuggled into his kitchen, "We could use an unpaid roadie."

**XXX**

The sound stage was huge and filled with various people running around lost in their own goals. Yama, his band, and a sour faced Taichi stood at the door in amazement. They had all agreed to try and remain as neutral as possible, to avoid looking like amateurs, but it was nearly unmanageable when the fact this was all set up for their band sunk into their minds. It no longer surprised Yama that the head's of most celebrities grew to unimaginable proportions. Who wouldn't become a little vain with all this attention?

"Can I set this stuff down yet?" Tai grumbled as his arms struggled to hold the few instruments that had been placed in his care.

"Yeah. We just have to find Kazama-sama first."

"Who is that?"

"He is the representative of the company that is pretty much controlling everything here."

"Ishida-kun!" A deep voice welcomed the blonde from the other side of the room. It's owner, a tall middle-aged man, approached them quickly and smiled as Yama offered a traditional greeting. "I'm so glad you were able to find the set."

"The directions you gave were pretty exact, so it was easy Kazama-sama."

"Please, please," He broke protocol and patted the teen on the shoulder, "No need to be so formal here. You can call me Yuto. And you are good with Yamato?"

Yuto was unlike any adult he had encountered before, but Yamato wasn't in a position to question these things at the moment, "Yes. That is fine."

"Good." He took the boy's elbow in hand and walked him to the other side of the stage, "Now, I want to show you a brand new idea we just came up with for the video."

Taichi set the equipment down with the other members of the band and followed his friend. He wasn't a particularly good roadie, but it didn't bother the brunette too much. His purpose was to be there for Yamato, and secretly to explore a new place. There was no point in not enjoying himself while he was there. And judging from the snack table they passed on the trip across the stage, he was going to be enjoying himself quite a bit.

As the duo ahead of him stopped, Tai screeched to a halt and bumped into Yuto. The older man looked the boy over and raised a curious eyebrow. He knew the face of each member of the Teenage Wolves and this boy was not a member. Did they already have a security breach this early?

"And who are you?"

"I'm Yagami-Taichi, head of security for the Teenage Wolves" The boy offered a poor attempt at a formal greeting.

Yama ignored the lie for now and motioned at the boy, "He comes to each of our gigs."

"Ah," Yuto wasn't convinced, but he also wasn't concerned enough to inquire further. Instead, he turned Yama's attention towards the extremely tall balance beam structure in front of them. A neon green harness and cable were situated at one end of the beam and sent a new wave of nerves down Yamato's spine. "Since your song is all about the balance and flow of life and death, we planned to have you up there for some amazing shots. Take the green screen away, put in a mountain landscape, and you have a music video on the edge of the world."

"You want me up there?" Yamato forced his voice to remain steady as he pointed to the tall structure.

"Woah!" Tai grinned from ear to ear as he looked at the structure. Who knew this was the kind of thing performers got to work with? If each of Yamato's videos were going to be like this, he might have to come along more often.

"Since you weren't warned about this before hand, we convinced the studio to give us some extra time to let you have a practice round or two." Yuto remained oblivious to the singer's nerves and began directing him to the wardrobe crew. "You can go get changed into something a little more appropriate for the practice run and your _security friend_ can go make some perimeter rounds."

Tai stood still as Yama and the strange Yuto headed off to wardrobe. He had a sneaking suspicion that Yuto didn't believe he was the head of security. But the thought didn't float around his mind for to long, since he noticed a few staff members walking around with his favorite foods piled high on paper plates. Yama didn't need his help to put on an outfit, and Yuto had said to check the grounds. First stop, snack table!

**XXX**

"You are really the manager of the Teenage Wolves?" The young make-up artist stared in surprise at Taichi as he filled a plate with various pieces of food. "But you're so young?"

"I've known the band since they were just struggling kids." Taichi was starting to enjoy this business, free food, permission to do dangerous stunts, and plenty of new experiences to relish in. Why hadn't he thought about being a roadie-security-manager before? "I helped the lead singer out quite a bit."

"Did you now?"

Tai jumped a little when Yama's voice broke into the conversation. He turned around to find the boy in a pair of basketball shorts and a semi-tight black tank top. It looked good on the singer's thin frame, but didn't seem music video quality. The video's Hikari had forced him to watch always had guys dressed up in some kind of suit get-up.

"Well, huh… we did have quite the adventures as kids."

"I need to borrow the security guy for just a minute, if you don't mind." Yama looked to the make-up artist who stared at him with a confused face.

"I thought he was the manager?"

"I wear many hats?" Tai said sheepishly before stumbling along after Yamato.

The musician pulled his friend across the stage and over to the giant beam. Tai stuffed a meatball in his mouth and tried to figure out why he was staring at the stunt Yama was supposed to be practicing. On the other side of Taichi, Yamato was staring with growing nerves at the gigantic beam. Breaking an arm or leg was definitely not on the boy's to do list today.

"Why are we staring at this beam?" Tai spoke up finally and walked up to touch the cause of Yama's fear.

"Don't you think it is a little… excessive?"

"Nah." Tai missed the emotions behind his friend's question and grinned widely, "I wish I could give it a go. You think they'd let me?"

"I'd give you my turn…" The blonde mumbled under his breath.

"Deal." Tai pushed his food plate into Yamato's hands and scampered over to the end of the beam.

"What? No, Tai! You can't do that…" Yamato looked around him to see if anyone had noticed them yet. Luckily, it seemed like no one had. Unluckily, Tai was now walking the length of the beam with a huge smile on his face.

Yamato sat the plate on the ground and hurried over to the beam. He tried to motion physically and verbally to Tai, but the brunette remained on the structure. Watching Tai attempt a few dare-devil moves on the beam sent Yama's stomach into a small whirl. Didn't he realize how high he was from the ground? They didn't put a harness with this stunt for no reason!

"Tai, come on." Yama stared up at the boy with slightly pleading eyes, "Get down before we get in trouble."

"Come up here, Yama." The boy squatted on the beam, keeping his balance due to years of various athletic training, and offered his hand to the blonde, "You come up and see it isn't so bad."

"No. I'll just wait for the trainer." He took a step back from the beam.

"Well, I'm not coming down until you come up." There was a distinct challenge in Tai's voice that would normally have spurred a rather competitive event for the boys.

"This isn't a game." Yama hissed under his breath, fearing more for his safety at that height, then being discovered by Yuto. "Get down, Taichi."

"You're just going to chicken out? The Yamato I know is tougher than that." Tai stood back up and examined the beam on either side of him. "Think I could do a cartwheel?"

"Damn you!" The blonde hissed under his breath as he decoded Tai's message. The brunette was not above the stunt, and both boys knew Yamato's heart probably couldn't take the stress of an action like that.

As he neared the steps at the end of the beam, the singer took a slow deliberate breath and climbed onto the beam. In his heart and mind, Yamato was sure that the balance beam was shaking beneath his feet. Taichi wasn't making any movements on the other end, but the whole world felt like it was violently shaking to the terrified boy. His arms stuck out on each side as if he was playing a childish airplane game.

"There you go!" Tai cheered and walked towards his friend till Yama demanded he stop moving on the beam. "It is okay, Yama. The beam won't snap in half or anything."

"Snap in half?!" The singer closed his eyes for a moment and tried to pretend he wasn't so high off the ground. Of course, his lovely imagination decided he needed multiple pictures of himself falling off cliff sides to replay in his brain.

"Here," Tai took hold of Yamato's hands and tried to make the boy take a few steps on the beam. "I have you Yama, you're safe."

"Down. How about we get down. Like, now?"

"Just take a few steps? I'll be right here to help you."

"Then down?"

"Six steps, then I will personally help you down."

"One." Yama bargained with his eyes closed tightly again.

"Five."

"Two."

"Three with open eyes."

"Okay." Yama took a deep breath and slowly opened his large aqua orbs.

"Good." Tai smiled comfortingly and took a step backwards on the beam so Yama could advance forward. "Now, take the first step."

Yamato lifted his right foot and hovered it a few inches past where it had been previously stationed. He was terrified, and pretty sure the hands Tai was holding were covered in a bucket of sweat each. He had managed to avoid heights for so long and now he was on what had to be the tallest balance beam in the world. Although everything in his body screamed to bail out, he knew that he had to keep going. Tai was not going to let go of his hands. He had to trust his best friend to not let him fall to what he knew would be a horrible balance beam death.

"What are you doing?!"

The yell shocked Yama's frazzled nerves and sent his foot down prematurely. He hit half of the balance beam and felt his body begin to twist awkwardly. His other foot lost its strength and slipped off the beam causing the boy to emit a small panic filled grunt.

Tai tightened his grip on the singer's hands and refused to let the boy fall to the floor. Unfortunately, he couldn't control the blonde's feet which were now dangling a little ways above the floor. Two of the actual security workers for the soundstage grabbed hold of Yamato's waist and helped him to the ground.

"I think I twisted my ankle." Yama mumbled and sat down on the ground, while silently promising to kiss the sweet, sweet ground later.

"Are you okay?" Tai leapt from the beam and landed easily on the ground. As he rushed to Yama's side, he completely missed the interesting look he was receiving from Yuto.

"I don't think I can walk on it." Yamato admitted as a medical assistant began to examine the joint. "But it isn't to painful."

"You twisted it pretty good, but I don't think it's broken." The medic got up from his position and rushed off to get his supplies.

"Hey, Yagami right?"

Tai turned his head to look at Yuto, and knew he had to be in a bit of trouble, "Yes."

"You worked on one of these balance beams before?"

"I played on one during the years my little sister was in gymnastics."

"Could you do some leaps and moves on it?"

"Sure. It would be easy. Why?"

"Well, since our music video star is now too injured to perform," Tai could have sworn Yuto cast a look of blame at him for Yama's condition. "We need someone to be in the video."

"I…I couldn't take this opportunity away from Yamato. Can't you wait till he is better?"

"We don't have that kind of time. I'm sure we can still have Yamato in the video, but we need someone to do the stunts."

Tai opened his mouth to disagree, but was stopped by Yamato placing a hand on his shoulder, "No. We need to make this. You can do it if you want to Tai. It's okay."

"Alright..." The brunette agreed, but felt guilty. Even with Yama's permission, something just didn't feel quite right.

"I guess I'll have to get used to people asking me who the handsome brunette in the video is." Yama mumbled under his breath as everyone but Tai and himself rushed around to make the new changes.

"Just say it is the O-R-S-M-A."

"What the hell is that?"

"Official Roadie Security Manager Actor." Tai chuckled as Yama rolled his eyes, "I wear many hats, remember?"


	6. Trickery

**Author's Note: Still no ownership of Digimon in sight.**

**Thank you to all my lovely reviewers! It is nice to know that people are enjoying this challenge. I wonder what you will think of this next part? Oh, and sorry if there are any big grammar issues I missed. This one was done in under an hour, because I was hit by inspiration and a time crunch lol. **

**Here is Trickery:**

* * *

"Yes!" The brunette teen giggled happily as she slid into the kitchen, thanks to her sock covered feet.

Taichi watched his baby sister let out a small burst of happiness, and then turned back to his current masterpiece. The sandwich before him was already coated in half of the lunchmeat the fridge had to offer, but it was missing something. Something unhealthy, something his mother would have highly disapproved of was needed to complete this important goal. He turned to the fridge once again and began to sort through his mother's so-called-food and the few decent morsels the rest of the family had hidden in the back.

"Mom said yes." Hikari snaked her arm past Tai and grabbed a bottle of water. "The girls get to come over tonight."

"What?" Tai pulled his attention from the food to look at his baby sister. "She said they could come over tonight?"

"Yep."

"But the guys are staying over tonight."

"So?"

"So, it'll be a little crowded don't you think? Dad has the office blocked off for some project he brought home from work and that leaves our bedroom and the living room."

Kari thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged casually, "We had to sleep together as a group all the time in the digital world. Why would they care if we slept in the same room now."

"How are we going to fit that many people in our room?"

"Tai," Yagami Susumu popped her head into the kitchen and looked to her son, "Don't forget to pick up your stuff before Hikari's friends arrive tonight."

"Okay. But I need to get the sleeping bags from the closet in the office for the guys first. I've been waiting for dad to take a break forever."

"Why would they need our sleeping bags?" Their mother blinked a pair of eyes that showed absolutely no understanding.

"They are staying over tonight. You said they could yesterday, remember?"

"Oh," She stepped into the kitchen and flexed her face into a thoughtful expression. "I forgot about that. Well, one of your groups will have to sleep in the living room."

"But, why? We slept together before and nothing happened." Hikari chimed in as she began to fear for her hold on the bedroom.

"Well that was an unexpected necessity," Susumu placed a hand on her child's shoulder and offered Hikari a motherly smile, "But since you aren't in that kind of situation now, I would feel better if the boys slept in one room and the girls slept in the other."

"Okay." The siblings mumbled half-heartedly and waited for their mother to leave the room before attempting to stake their claim for the bedroom.

"I'm the oldest," Taichi slapped the top piece of bread on his sandwich and took a bite. "I should get the room."

"You always say that."

"Well, when that isn't true anymore you can have the room."

"You know that will always be true."

Hikari sighed in frustration as Taichi picked up his sandwich and walked out of the kitchen. She didn't mind sharing with her brother most of the time. As far as brothers went, Taichi was a pretty amazing representation of the term. Of course, even the most patient and caring little siblings had moments of frustration ignited brilliance. And at that very moment in time, Yagami Hikari was filled with one of those moments of brilliance.

**XXX**

When Hikari entered the bedroom thirty minutes later, she found Tai had not accomplished his mother's suggestion. The floor was littered with laundry and a few wrinkled homework papers that had less than stellar grades written on them. The boy in question was lying on the bottom bunk and tossing his soccer ball into the air repeatedly.

"Onii-chan?" Hikari offered him a sweet smile as she neared his resting place.

Tai continued to toss the ball mindlessly.

"Um, Onii-chan?" She tried to keep the sweetness in her tone as she stood beside him.

Once more, Tai merely tossed his ball up without a care.

"Hey, Taichi." She grabbed the ball in mid-throw and watched the boy pull out his ear buds in surprise.

"Oh, didn't see you there." He sat up on the bed and stretched out his arms slowly. "What's up? You need help setting up the living room for your sleepover?"

"No. I have a deal for you."

"A deal?"

"About who gets the bedroom."

"Ah," He groaned and flopped back on the bed. "Didn't we settle this?"

"The age idea isn't fair. So I want to challenge you to a game. Winner gets the bedroom and loser has to take the living room."

He eyed the soccer ball in her hands, and then glanced at the window, "It is to rainy to play soccer today, Hikari."

"I don't want to challenge you to a real soccer game." She set the ball on the shelf and noticed how lost her big brother looked. "I want to challenge you to a virtual game."

The game cartridge in Hikari's tiny hand was ancient, to say the least. Taichi hadn't seen that particular type of game since he had been in elementary school (and it had been old even then). It had been his favorite video game for years, but once he grew older and found a stronger love for real soccer, it had lost its luster. How Hikari had even been able to find it was beyond the boy. As far as he knew the whole system was shoved away in one of their closets.

"Why should I play this game when I already won the room?" He stared at the tiny girl with uncertain eyes. Something about this whole deal seemed fishy.

"How about whoever wins will get the room _and_ dinner made by the loser?"

At the promise of food, made by someone besides his mother, Taichi relented and stuck out his hand to her, "Alright, Deal. But no backing out when you lose."

"I'd never go back on my word." She grinned sweetly at him and shook his hand with gentle force.

**XXX**

By the time Taichi had hooked up the prehistoric console to their television, the time of the slumber parties was growing near. He took the console from Hikari, blew into the base of it to clean out the dust, and snapped the game into place. The familiar 2-D graphics filled the screen, and he found himself humming along to the catchy theme song.

"I can't believe you picked this game." Tai used the controller to select his character and glanced to his baby sister one more time. "Look, if you want we can try a different game. I know the deal was to play this one, but there are others you might have a better chance with."

"I said I wouldn't go back on my word." Hikari said bravely as she ignored the offer and picked the player in a green jersey.

"Alright." Taichi shrugged and selected the start button, " But don't tell me this wasn't fair after I win."

Hikari merely smiled sweetly and stared at the screen. Her player was on defense for the first round, and her objective was to keep the goal free of any shots. On the top half of the screen, she could see Taichi's character darting left and right in an attempt to throw her off. She held steady and refrained from pushing any buttons until the other character shot the ball at lightning speed.

The smug smile that had snuck onto Taichi's face faltered ever so slightly, as his first kick was blocked by Kari. The little girl never flinched or mashed the buttons in a desperate attempt to stop what he had assumed was an inevitable goal. How had she gained enough skill to block him? It had to be beginner's luck!

"Just wait for the trick shots…" He grumbled under his breath and mashed a specific combo of buttons.

"Was that it?" Hikari asked ever so innocently as the ball bounced off her player, and rolled away in goalless shame.

"You just have beginner's luck." He alerted her and quickly mashed another special combo of buttons.

"That was a good try." She grinned as her character not only deflected the ball, but also kicked it hard enough to hit Taichi's character. "But, no goal."

"What?!"

The whole event was starting to twist Taichi's self-confidence into a knot of confusion and embarrassment. How could his baby sister be this good? He was the soccer player of the family. He was the one who had always beat her in virtual _and_ real soccer! And he was also the one who had forgotten the game and completely failed at blocking Hikari's first kick.

"Goal." She giggled happily.

"That doesn't count!" Taichi complained through his cracking inner pride.

"Why not?"

"You played before I saw anything. I didn't even know it was my turn to defended the goal."

"I can't help it if you weren't paying attention." She turned her head back to the game and quickly hit another button. The bittersweet sound of cheering came from the game as she scored once more.

"Stop that!" Tai began to panic as his soccer prowess was attacked twice.

"You know the game keeps a time limit on kick time." She countered and turned back to the game. "It doesn't have the ability to pause without exiting the whole game."

He grabbed his remote in a death grip and stared at the screen with all his might. She was right about the time limit and pause defect, but it still wasn't fair. Didn't he deserve a chance to defend his goal?!

"Alright. This next shot is all that counts. You make it and you win, I block it and I win?"

"That isn't fair. You know more about soccer then I do."

"You snuck two goals in, I think this makes us even."

"Well," She sighed, a small glint of something in her eyes, "Okay. One goal for all the marbles."

The siblings stared at the television screen so intently; they didn't notice their mother wandering through the room and to the front door. She stared curiously at the children for only a moment and figured they were too involved in their game to answer the knocking at the door. Taichi didn't dare to tear his eyes from Hikari's character. He channeled his disappointment in his own skills to the 2-D green player and waited for the chance to redeem himself.

The screen began to emit a new color as Hikari mashed a set of buttons Taichi had never dreamed of trying before. A grin spread over her lips as selected one last purple button before letting the ball fly. Instead of a normal black and white ball, a bright red flame coated the pixels. The fireball moved so quickly across the screen, that Taichi barely had time to tell his character to dive for it. Although the hands of his character touched the flame ball, the item zipped past the goalie and landed in the goal box.

"What the heck?!" Taichi dropped his remote and stared at the screen with eyes as large as saucers. "What was that… that thing?!"

"A fire-ball upgrade!" Hikari cheered and playfully pumped her fist in the air.

"How… how did you know how to do that?_ I_ didn't even know how to do that!"

"You learn a lot when you are stuck inside with no one to play with a one game video game collection."

"You played me?" The words sounded so strange when they were addressed to Hikari. "You knew I wouldn't know you were that good."

"You said that if I won this game, I got the bedroom. You never asked me how well I could play."

The boy took a moment to think about this. He had volunteered to play a different game, and secretly rejoiced when she had still pushed for the _Soccer Shot_ game. If he had been willing to play a game he thought she was horrible at, could he blame her for not telling him she was practically a pro?

"Okay," He held out his hand, "You win. But if anyone asks, this game never happened. Deal?"

"Okay." She shook his hand and offered a sincere smile, "Good game, Onii-chan."

"You too, squirt."

"Um, what are you two doing?"

The children looked up from their ancient game to find their friends crowded beside the entryway. Yamato stared at the game curiously, while Koushiro seemed almost repulsed by the horribly outdated technology. The girls giggled between themselves and Mimi mumbled something along the lines of Taichi being a sweet big brother to play games with Hikari.

"Oh, nothing." Tai scratched the back of his head nervously. "We weren't doing anything."

"Guess what," Hikari jumped to her feet and began leading the girls towards her bedroom, "Taichi volunteered to cook us dinner."

"That reminds me," The older Yagami sibling looked to Yamato with a sheepish smile, "You wouldn't mind showing me how to cook a meal would you?"

"Why do I have the feeling there is more to this then we know?" The blond looked to Koushiro who simply sighed.

"Whatever happened here, it couldn't be good if it involved technology that ancient."

* * *

**So, I am not sure if this works with the mental image I have of Hikari. Honestly, she was the last person I associated with Trickery. But I enjoy the idea of a younger sibling winning, so Hikari got a moment to shine in this chapter lol. **


	7. Endings

**Author's Note: I do not own Digimon. **

**Thank you to my lovely readers and reviewers! It is nice to know I am not the only one who thinks little siblings deserve to win sometimes lol. Specific thank you to Kal-El Fornia and Chromate for continuing to review as they go through the chapters. And a special new thank you to Krikanalo for reading and sending me a review. Hope you stick around for the rest of the chapters. : )**

**Now, here is Endings:**

* * *

The crisp winter wind rushed past the tall man, causing him to tighten the grip he held on the bouquet of flowers. Each flower was different from the one beside it creating an amazing spectrum of vibrant colors. When the flower shop attendant had asked which color he preferred, he hadn't been able to answer. He didn't know her favorite color or her favorite flower. The woman had merely smiled gently and volunteered to create a one-of-a-kind bunch to take a bite out of the winter chill surrounding the city.

As he neared the building, he spotted a pair of old men sitting outside the front doors. They had blankets tucked around their laps and seemed to be enjoying a conversation he couldn't quite understand. The men smiled at the young man and offered him a slow wave as he walked past their powwow and entered the building. He couldn't help but wonder if the two of them actually knew what subject either was talking about, or if they were just enjoying the comfort of having someone to sit beside them.

"Yamato-kun." The bright eyes of Emi greeted the blond as he entered the front foyer and glided to the front desk. "I didn't expect to see you today."

"I was able to get back from my tour early. I wanted to come and see her, and talk… if she is up to it."

Emi nodded her head slowly and pushed a strand of black hair behind her left ear. In her twenty years as a resident, she had never met a man quite like Ishida Yamato. He had fame, fortune, and a caring family but he was always covered in a cloud of grief. So much remorse and confusion in a man so young always brought a deep sadness to Emi. She could not understand why he blamed himself for so many things that were out of his control. They were out of anyone's control. Yet he wore each of the weights around his neck as if he was attempting to make some penitence for a horrible crime.

She ushered him to the employee break room and busied herself with trying to find a vase for the flowers. Once she had selected a tall one, leftover from a past employee party, she filled it with water and kept her back towards the man. "She will love those flowers. She always talks about how far away spring seems."

"How is she doing?" Yamato's voice remained stable; in an attempt to avoid admitting how heavy the question was to his mind and heart.

"As well as can be expected."

Emi took the flowers and placed them in the vase. She knew it was not the answer he wanted. It wasn't the answer anyone who came here wanted to hear. They wanted, no, craved to hear the workers gush about how well their loved one was doing. They prayed the nurse would explain to them that there was no more signs of anything and they should resume life with their loved one as it was before their world's had tipped over.

"Has she been talking or leaving her room?"

"She talks to some of the staff." Emi handed him the vase and offered him a kind smile. This softhearted thirty-four year old man deserved at least some positivity in this situation. "She told her doctor yesterday that she wanted to walk through the flowers again. She was waiting for the flowers before she would venture outside again."

Yamato nodded his head slowly and imagined the conversation the resident had just described. He could see the look on the doctor's face when he had finally gotten some words to escape the woman's normally locked lips. In the back of his mind, Yamato prayed that he would get such a sentiment from her. Any phrase would be better then the deathly silences that often accompanied these visits.

"Alright. How about we get you to the woman of the hour?" Emi smiled sweetly at him and began to walk down the path Yamato knew far to well.

**XXX**

Upon his entrance in the room, he cleared his throat to try and alert her to his presence. Instead of looking at him, the elderly woman remained fixated on her window. Outside the foggy glass was a perfect view of the small courtyard. Where the flowers had once bloomed brightly was small heaps of melted snow. The land was bare of any vegetation, but she could not pull her eyes from the scene.

"Okaasan?" He asked in a quiet voice as he neared her bedside. "I brought you some flowers."

The statement pulled her out of the daze and brought her sunken eyes to Yamato's face. She showed no real emotions, but reached a wrinkled hand out to touch the beautiful flowers. A small upward tug of her lip, gave her the look of a tiny smile as her finger gently rubbed the delicate petals. When the man placed the vase on her bed, the woman gladly took the item and situated it between her hands. She stared with such child-like intensity at the bouquet, that Yamato had to take a step back to collect himself.

"I wanted to see you today." He tried to start a conversation, but failed to regain her eye contact. "It's a special day today. And I wanted to come and see you to tell you happy birthday."

He paused for a moment and allowed his chest to fill with a few deep breaths. The woman before him was so different then the vibrant lady he remembered from his childhood. Her skin was loose and hung off her skeletal frame in a depressing manner. What had once been a full head of blonde hair was now sparse, wisps of white held back by a single clip. The transformation his mother had undergone had been too much for many members of their small family, and Yamato could not blame them in the least for being scared.

When the diagnosis had first been told to them Takeru had refused to believe the doctors. He had yelled at both Yamato and their father that it was a mistake and that the doctors had no idea what was really happening in their mother's mind. They had taken her to various specialists in an attempt to appease Takeru's constant denial, and each doctor had told them the same thing. It was inevitable, it was incurable, it was vicious, and it was time they really focused on spending quality time with their loved one.

They were lucky, in some aspects. They had been able to enjoy their mother for longer than some children ever would. At least, Takeru had been able to enjoy time with their mother before her mind began to betray her. No matter how much time passed, in the back of Yamato's mind he had always harbored that feeling of not belonging. It had lasted through the years he and his mother had tried to repair their strained relationship. No matter how close they became, part of his mind could not sink comfortably into the position of son.

"Beautiful…"

The whisper brought his attention back to the woman in front of him. She was still staring at the flowers, but the small smile had shifted into a true grin. His own face matched her joy as he decided to try one last time to make peace with his mother.

"I know we haven't always seen eye to eye." He looked around the room to try and gain some courage to be honest with her. "I was… I was afraid. I was afraid when you got divorced and left. I was afraid when I came back to the real world and you asked for a second chance."

He closed his eyes for a few seconds and imagined the feeling of his mother's warm arms wrapped around his eleven-year-old body. The day he and Takeru had come back from the digital world, was the day this new relationship had started. It was after Takeru had fallen asleep that she had approached him and asked with teary eyes to give her a second chance at being his mother. He honestly couldn't remember what answer he had given her. All that stuck out in his mind was that hug. She had hugged him so tightly and he had secretly wished the moment would replay on a constant loop.

Honestly, he felt guilty harboring so many unresolved feelings about his relationship with his mother. She had tried so hard to include him and keep her promise that she wouldn't let the drift in their relationship reappear. And he had been fortunate to be included in so many family moments… but he had also been scared. At sixteen years old he had finally made peace with the realization that he was terrified his mother would leave him again. As an adult he had accepted the fact that his inner child could not forget the feelings of pain she had inflicted when she had left with Takeru years ago.

"I always wondered when I was a little boy; what happened to make my family break apart? I laid awake for hours and tried to remember every fight you two had. I remember being so upset because the last fight I ever saw was started, because I had drawn on Takeru's arms with a permanent marker. I wished so hard that I could go back and stop myself from giving Takeru a sharpie tattoo."

For a brief moment, Natsuko's tired eyes looked at his face giving him strength to continue.

"I remember being in the digital world and watching Takeru cry because he missed you so badly. I was never able to tell him that I missed you too. That I _knew_ that feeling of being completely cut from the people who had always been with you. I never told him. I merely did my best to comfort and protect him till we made it back home. It was that little guy who had pulled all of us into a group hug when we made back to the real world. Even then, I could see the look in your eyes and know neither of my parents wanted to be in this embrace with the other."

"Parents?"

"Yes." Yamato smiled widely and placed a gentle hand on her frail one. After a second, he pulled back and tried to keep himself together a little while longer.

"You kept your word even when I tried to force you away. When the fear of possible abandonment had become so horrible I began to try and shove you out of my life, you kept coming back. I drank underage, smoked cigarettes, and generally tried every teen rebellion phase possible. Looking back on it now, I acted like a complete ass." He laughed softly and tried to stay focused on his story. If he rambled for to long he feared she would lose this moment of semi-lucidity.

"That night of the car wreck, you came to the hospital. You hugged me so tightly, just like you had when I was eleven, and told me how scared _you_ were of losing me. You told me how I was damn lucky that everyone in the car had escaped with only minor injuries. You told me that I knew better than to put myself in that kind of situation. That I should have taken the keys from my friend and not let anyone from that party drive. But what I remember most, is that you told me no matter what I did, how stupid I acted, or old I got you would love me. That there would always be a place for me in your heart and that pulling all these dangerous stunts was breaking your heart."

"Those words actually made it through the thick skull of a teenager." He clutched her hand once again, but did not let go this time; "You gave me faith to tell you about every big moment of my life. As I went out into the world and discovered who I was, you were always in the background. You were always there. You kept your promise, so I am going to keep mine…"

He took a slow, deliberate breath and looked her in the eyes, "No matter what you do, how silly you may act, or old you get… I will love you. You will always have a place in my heart. I'm sorry for all I put you through during the years, and I just want to tell you that, I love you."

"I love you too." The phrase was kind and held the words he wanted to hear so badly, but the pools of blue that stared at him relayed the inescapable truth of the tragic situation. "But who are you, young man?"

* * *

**This chapter was sadder than the ones before and dealt with a subject close to my heart; Dementia. In this story, Yamato's mother is dealing with an aggressive form of Alzheimer's disease. If you, or someone you know, is affected by this disease, my thoughts are with you and your loved ones. **


	8. Poor

**Author's Note: I do not own Digimon. It is such a shame. **

**Thank you to my lovely reviewers! Kal-El Fornia and Chromate are pretty rocking awesome! You should check out their stories "A Home at The End of Japan" by Kal-El and "Comfortable Silence" by Chromate. You will not be disappointed by their quality and strong messages. **

**Anyway, here is Poor:**

* * *

Daisuke pushed the mop around the clean floor with disinterest. There had only been six customers that evening, yet his bitter boss had declared the entire place was a pigsty. How did someone who had lived in urban Tokyo for his entire youth even know what a pigsty looked like? He gazed around the room and counted the remaining tiles that needed mopping.

"I swear they are multiplying…"

As he leaned on the mop his mind wandered over the course of events that had led him to this horrible place. The 'opportunity to experience a real restaurant atmosphere' had been the misguided description on the ad. Instead of creating noodle recipes he was performing menial tasks for basic pay. At least it put a little yen in his pocket. Takeru had nothing close to a job, unlike the semi-appropriately paid Daisuke, he wouldn't be able to take Hikari out for any type of romantic dinner.

As images of the lithe brunette began to dance around his mind, he closed his eyes to gain a better view of the fantasy. In his mind's eye, he could see her dressed in a flowing gown. They would dance across the floor fulfilling every one of the girlish fantasies he assumed were in her brain. It would be perfect. It would be romantic. It would be his chance to finally-

"Motomiya!"

Taste a mopped floor.

"Get off the floor."

As he pulled his face up from the tile, his eyes spotted the wooden mop that had cracked under his weight. Judging by the past two weeks of bakery work he assumed the new mop would come out of his salary. Goto Zurui, the pasty-faced owner and nightmare boss, glared down at his young worker with a complete lack of empathy. It was strange how a look that could cause so much fear in the general public had begun to loose its effect on the teenage boy. Repetition was a pretty quick desensitizer.

"I can't wait any longer for you to finish mopping. You should have finished with this ages ago." The man's condescending tone pushed Daisuke's annoyance level to new heights. "I want you to throw out the food that didn't sell. The trays are in the back."

"You want me to throw away bread you baked only a few hours ago, Goto-sama?"

The man furrowed his brow and towered over his young employee, "I would never lower myself to serving old bread. I expect you to take instructions and not question them, Motomiya-kun."

The boy opened his mouth to make a statement that would probably have earned him quite a reprimand, but paused in mid-sentence when he saw the blood thirst in Goto-sama's eyes. For once in his headstrong life, Daisuke listened to that small bit of self-preservation and backed away from the situation. He busied himself with gathering as many trays of baked goods as he could hold and rushing for the door.

In the alley outside the restaurant Daisuke located the bakery's dumpster with ease. Unlike the other three mini-dumpsters, filled with rotten vegetables and crushed boxes, the bakery dumpster was filled with varying degrees of decaying bread. Most of the pieces looked perfectly normal bringing the absurdity of the situation to a more obvious level. Who could throw away food that looked twice as good as anything produced by his high school?

Out of the corner of his eye, the boy spotted something moving. When he turned his head to investigate further, an elderly woman dressed in a patch-filled outfit caught his attention. Her hair was disheveled and gave her dirt-smudged face a wild frame. Over her frail shoulders lay a small blanket that might have beat her clothes in a patch count. When she noticed the boy staring she offered a small bow and tried to hurry away from his eyesight.

As he watched for some sign of the woman to return to the sidewalk that butted against the alley entrance, a new face entered the picture. Unlike the timid female, this fellow was lanky and gigantic by Japanese proportions. His face was shielded by a thick coating of hair that was almost long enough to touch the neckline of his t-shirt. The look of longing and desire in his eyes disturbed Daisuke. He was stumbling along the same path the woman had taken and didn't appear to steady on his feet.

The headstrong side of Daisuke reared once more and forced him (and his heavy bakery trays) out of the alley and into the street. He couldn't let that man follow the scared lady around. What if he was one of those psycho ax murderers? Just like the ones in the western horror films his sister owned? There was no way that lady would be able to take on that giant! At least Daisuke had some fighting skills, no matter what his sister said about his muscles being non-existent.

It was difficult to sneak down the sidewalk with heavy tins in his arms, but he refused to drop them. The small amount of his paycheck not being withheld for replacement fees could not have covered the price of even one tin. Besides, the two strangers hadn't moved that far from the alley before joining a growing crowd of people dressed in shambles of clothing. The entire group was in line behind a large van, whose back doors were wide open.

As he approached the lines he could see two figures scurrying around in the back of the van. The older gentleman was dark-haired and bespectacled, while his young female companion sported a strikingly crimson hair-do. They seemed to be handing out bento boxes to the people in line. Each of the recipients offered a soft thank you and seemed to have their spirits lifted by the genuine smiles of the van duo. No matter how scraggly or dirty the person was, the woman smiled kindly and offered them a sweet word.

"Can I have a piece?"

The soft voice and tug on his shirt brought Daisuke out of his thoughts and back to the real world. Below his heavy trays, stood a tiny boy who could not have been more than six years old. His wide black eyes stared at the bread within the trays as his tongue subconsciously wetted his lips. There were only common items, nothing sweet or fancy, in the trays but the child examined them like they were pots of gold.

It bothered the teenager to see a child so young having to stand in line to try to get a bite to eat. As his presence became more noticed, multiple children began to crowd the brunet and ask sweetly for a piece of bread. Unable to hold back anymore, Daisuke placed the trays down and let the kids take as much as they wanted. Each of the children offered him a thank you so heartfelt; he began to feel his heartstrings tear. This wasn't right. It wasn't fair that these children had to scour the streets for food. It wasn't fair that any of these people had to live like this.

"Thank you." The redhead came up to him and smiled gently at his empty trays. Her voice was coated in an accent Daisuke couldn't place, "Are you here with the organization?"

"Organization?"

"Yes. My family and I created an organization to help the homeless and low-income families in Odaiba. I just assumed my mother sent you to help us out. I mean, where else would someone get that much bread?"

"Uh… No, I work at the bakery down the street. I was supposed to be throwing these out since they are a few hours old…"

The redhead frowned and showed her dark eyes were more than capable of soul staring gazes. If there was one thing she could not stand, it was waste. She had seen thousands of starving people on her travels with her parents and could recall each of their faces with heartbreaking accuracy. There was no excuse for not helping your fellow-man. Where was the compassion in this business? They could have easily given those rolls to organizations such as her families.

"I didn't want to." Daisuke added as her gaze hardened. "I just… I didn't know you could give this kind of stuff to organizations."

The answer appeased the girl, for now, and she grabbed his hand gently, "Come with me. I want to show you something."

Daisuke watched the spirited woman with surprise, confusion, and strangely a small bit of admiration. She was different than any woman he had ever met. The gruff manner she had first offered quickly melted away when she began to explain the family organization and for some reason the family as well. The information flew by his head fast and furiously causing the boy to catch only a few pieces.

Apparently, Akako's mother was something she called a hippie holdover from America and her father was a Japanese business man. Akako had put off her dream of attending university to help her parents take care of Odiaba's homeless population. Their organization was small and lacked a secure funding system, but rain or shine they were always there to offer at least two meals a day.

When the explanation was over, she left his side to assist her father and Daisuke let his eyes wander over the crowds as they ate. The tiny boy from earlier noticed him almost instantaneously and rushed over. Daisuke noted the child was pretty unsteady on his feet and met him about halfway. Instead of offering a word of recognition, the child hugged Daisuke around the middle and mumbled another cheerful thank you for the bread.

"No problem."

"There is something special about that isn't there?" Akako rejoined Daisuke and offered him a wise smile.

As he watched the child rejoin his parents, who offered a small wave in the volunteers' direction, something shifted in Daisuke's mind. He couldn't put a finger on which part of this night had been the final clue, but he definitely knew he wanted to help. He _needed_ to help these people. And the nightmare boss wouldn't miss bread he assumed was garbage anyway.

"So, you said I could bring stuff here at what times again?" Daisuke's face cracked into an excited smile as Akako's joy began to infect his mood.

**XXX**

For the next three weeks Daisuke carried out what he had affectionately dubbed, 'Operation Bagel'. Step one had been easy, sign up for as many closing shifts as possible. It seemed that even Goto-sama was happy with that arrangement since it drastically lowered Daisuke's chances of interacting with customers. How had it never dawned on the old man that customers went out of their way to avoid dealing with him, not the young workers? The last step of the plan was to hand off the bread to Akako and return the trays like normal. No one would be the wiser. It was a perfect plan with no hitch… at first.

In his hurry to hand off the bread each night, Daisuke had conveniently missed the security camera Goto had set up in his alley. Which is how he ended up in the boss' office by the end of week three.

He sat still in the metallic chair and tried his best to keep a straight face. Watching Goto pace back and forth angrily made it rather difficult to not laugh. As crazed as the man was, there was something about his over the top antics that were almost ridiculous. In fact, each of his angry stomps perfectly matched the foot pattern of an elephant.

"So you think it is funny to steal from my business?!"

Apparently, Daisuke hadn't been very good at hiding his desire to grin.

"Steal?" He asked in surprise and shook his head adamantly, "I never stole anything from the business! In fact, half of the new things here were bought with my paychec-"

"You will speak only when spoken to!"

The thunder behind Goto's voice brought a strange level of reality to the situation. Suddenly the pink coating on his pasty face, was no longer funny. Instead, Daisuke was finding himself slightly nervous that this was going to end in some form of blood shed. At least that seemed to be what Goto's twitching eye was out for.

"I have watched you walk out for multiple nights with the old bread and return with empty trays. That bread is my product, ergo part of my business. And when I tell you to put the bread in the dumpster, I expect you to do as your told. What are you doing with them?"

"Nothing." He wondered if that counted as being spoken to, since the last question from Goto hadn't.

"Are you selling them? Are you trying to make a profit off of the goods you stole from me?" He stood directly in front of Daisuke's chair, his face coated in a new shade of red, and lowered his voice to a skin-crawling quiet tone, "I know the police will be interested in taking a little thief off these streets."

"I didn't sell them!" Daisuke objected and tried to harness his bravery as the older man glared into his soul. "They needed them!"

As the last sentence left his mouth, the boy's brain began to set off alarm bells. With someone as psychotic as Goto leading the investigation, he couldn't afford to let any information slip. Goto-sama was just the kind of heartless, high-ranking citizen to cause trouble for Akako's organization. unfortunately, there was definitely a spark of evil in Goto's eyes.

"Who needed them?" Each word was dropped with cold precision.

"No one. I just dropped them on the street for the birds."

"You're lying." Goto leaned so close his murderous face was mere inches from the young boy's own. Daisuke could smell each sickening breath that escaped Goto's mouth and physically cringed. "Either you tell me what actually happened to the things you stole from me, or I am going to have to bring in the police and you will be locked away in a nice little jail cell for a very long time."

Daisuke swallowed the lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat. The last thing he needed on his record was a stint in jail. If he had paid more, or any, attention in his government class he might have had an idea about whether or not Goto was just bluffing or correct on being able to get him arrested. Of course, if he squealed on Akako his boss was bound to press charges. Every yen her family had went into their organization and they could easily be torn apart by a lawsuit.

Where would that leave the families that counted on Akako's family to get them through hard times? He had done some research, which consisted of asking the librarian for answers, and found out that most of Akako's claims about a lack of programs for homeless families was completely true. Without the meals they provided, a lot of the sick and old people would have nothing to eat at all. Would that mean the little boy he had met the first night would starve?

Daisuke furrowed his brow and bravely spoke up, "Then you are going to have to call the police. Because I dropped the bread on the ground for the birds. No one else was involved. It was only me."

**XXX**

A lengthy string of profanity, literal throwing out of the restaurant, firing, and banishment later Daisuke found himself wandering the path back to his house. The slight ringing in his ears was beginning to subside and he was starting to rehearse how he would tell his mother about being fired. It didn't help the matter that the woman had been going to this particular bakery for the past twenty years. In her eyes Goto was the best baker in town. He only hoped that his mother would also believe the man was the best asshole in town.

"Daisuke-san!"

The boy paused in mid-stride and glanced to the playground on his left. Sitting in one of the swings was the little boy who had first grabbed Daisuke's heart. The child waved wildly and motioned for his older friend to join him on the swing set. After a few days into the organization, Akako had explained to Daisuke about the boy's physical disabilities. He couldn't bend his legs as easily as the other children but had never appeared to be depressed about his limitations. Either way, Daisuke quickly walked over to him to save the boy the discomfort of walking to him.

"What are you doing? You look kind of sad Daisuke-san."

The brunet sat on the swing next to the child and offered him a charming grin, "I just lost my job. I guess I am a little sad, but it's okay."

"That happened to my Otosan. He lost his job and was sad for a long time. But the people who give out the bento boxes got him a new one. He said that they let him meet some guy who is looking for people to do… something."

"That's great. I bet he will be good at the job."

"Otosan is good at everything." The child nodded his head and looked at Daisuke with a bit of worry, "What is gonna happen to you?"

"Me?" Daisuke looked up from his feet and noticed the worry in his little friend's eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Are you gonna have to live in a hotel and sell your stuff?"

"Is that what happened to your family?"

The child nodded his head and looked away for a few minutes. "But, we are going to go live with my Obasan now. My dad said everything is going to be better now that he has a job."

"I know it will be." Daisuke grinned and ruffled the kid's hair, "You are a tough kid. I'm sure you will be fine."

"Here." The little boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a half-eaten candy bar. He tried to hand it to the teenager, "You helped me when my family didn't have a job… so I can help you since you don't got one now."

"Split it?" Daisuke laughed as the boy grinned and broke the pieces in half.

With pieces of chocolate in hand, the two boys swayed gently in their swings and watched the sun begin to set in the distance. For someone who had been violently fired, lost all but three yen of his paycheck, and had an angry mother at home Daisuke was feeling pretty good. Heck, he was feeling pretty good for any human. As he looked at the little boy once more, a smile graced his lips. Maybe he couldn't do all the big things he had planned with his future money, but he was going to make sure no kid as awesome as this little guy ever went hungry. How hard could it be to make a noodle cart for charity?

* * *

**Sorry it was a little bit dialogue heavy at the end. Hopefully everything balanced out. Honestly, this chapter was not my favorite. I wanted to do the subject matter justice, but I don't think I did. What do you guys think? Waste of space or okay chapter?**


	9. Modern

**Author's Note: I do not own Digimon. Maybe, someday I will possibly lol. **

**Thanks to all my lovely readers and reviewers! You guys are super cool and nifty keen. : ) This chapter will be pretty text heavy because it mainly depends on conversations. I think it will be worth it though. **

**Now here is Modern:**

* * *

"I blame Koushiro."

The statement was final and seeded with revengeful feelings that would undoubtedly be acted upon at a later date. The rest of the occupants in the room nodded their heads in silent agreement, and offered the nervous genius a look of distaste. For his part, the red-head shook his head quickly and waved his hands in the air as if to dispel the negative energy. The looks grew slightly colder.

"My fault?" He spat out in shock. "How is this my fault?"

"Who gave Miyako the subscription to Modern Mother's magazine?" Yamato leaned back in his seat and enjoyed the fact the culprit was sweating nervously.

"Which," Jou glanced up momentarily from his book of quotes, "Just happened to have an article about family birth emotion videos…. Or whatever the thing is called."

Koushiro slumped his shoulders in slight defeat. The boys did have a teeny bit of a point. Miyako's baby shower had completely snuck up on him. Was it his fault a new operating system had come out on the same day? Sure, he had been an hour late to the co-ed party and brought only a magazine and a paid subscription… but he had made up for it! In fact, the child in question was swinging peacefully in a pretty expensive baby gadget as they spoke. Was it his fault the gift purchased from a newsstand had been such a hit with Miyako? Surely, not.

"See. It is your fault." Tai busted the boy's bubble and took a swig of his drink.

"Fine. I put the idea in her head. But all you have to do is say a few words about the baby and give a piece of advice. It isn't like she wants your head on her mantel."

Yamato raised a curious eyebrow as Koushiro's normally well-put-together front began to crack. Honestly, Yamato hadn't found the task _too_ difficult. All he had to do was say he was glad the baby was there and recite a quote on camera. Unlike, Jou who was meticulously pouring over books in search of the perfect phrase or Taichi whose childlike nature forced him into a deep pout and no preparation, Yamato was calm. He wrote songs, he could write an inspirational quote.

The blond pulled out his smart phone and began to search through the notes he had written to himself. Ever since he had opted for the larger device and stylus, on-the-go songwriting had become a thousand times easier. Surely, there was an inspirational quote somewhere between the scribbles. On the side of his neck he could feel the warmth of Taichi's breath as the boy leaned closer to get a view of the screen.

"Oh, that's good."

"No."

"What?" Tai pointed at the quote on the screen and nodded his head. "I'm going to use that."

"You can't use that. Get your own!"

"What is it?" Jou looked up from his books and over to the boys on the couch.

"It says, 'Life is a journey with problems to solve, lessons to learn, but most of all experiences to enj-"

Yamato slapped a hand over Taichi's mouth and glared daggers at the boy. Of course, the look of anger was quickly replaced by a look of surprised disgust. His hand flew away from Taichi's mouth and he rubbed it on his pant leg quickly.

"You licked my hand! What the crap?"

"Oh please," Taichi grinned wickedly, beginning to enjoy this game as the goal at hand slipped out of his attention span. "Like that is the worst thing I have ever done to you."

Jou closed his books slowly and stared at the other men with a thoughtful expression etched on his face. The boys stared curiously at their oldest friend and waited to see what thought he was about to relay to them. Jou cleared his throat and held up his index finger to give himself a more professional appearance, "I am going to use that."

"What?!" Tai screeched. "It's min- Ow! What the hell Yamato?!"

The blonde unclenched the fist that had punched Taichi in the shoulder. It hadn't been that hard, but it gained Tai's attention and unfortunately his childish side. The brunet rubbed his shoulder as if he had been beaten with a lead pipe. As a soft groan escaped Taichi's lips the other men waited for Yamato to say something; knowing full well it would not be an apology.

"I told you that you couldn't have my quote. Besides, now we're even."

"You call this even? I barely touched your hand and you punched me in the shoulder."

"It didn't look that hard." Koushiro spoke up and Taichi pouted.

"Whose side are you on magazine boy?"

Taichi scooted forward on the couch and pointed to each of the men in turn, "I don't need your help. I can come up with the best quote all on my own."

A growing sense of anticipation began to fill the living room. No one actually expected Taichi's quote to beat Yamato's own, especially Tai himself. But now there was a challenge on the floor. Taichi had never been the type to back away from a challenge, and those challenges where he was woefully unprepared to handle things were the most entertaining. Yamato tilted his body so he could have the full view of Taichi's face as the hamster inside the brunet's brain spun the hell out of its wheel.

"Got it!" Tai shouted so loudly Koushiro and Jou jumped back in their chairs. "The best inspirational quote is, 'Look up to the sky each time it rains gold and you will never be disappointed'!"

The room grew quiet for a moment, and then erupted into a rolling bout of maniacal laughter that left the brunet looking rather perplexed. Yamato wrapped his arms around his sides and doubled over as the cackle shook his body. Koushiro's laughter was quieter and hidden behind a surprisingly devious grin. Jou, on the other hand, kept a hand over his mouth as if he was afraid to show Taichi how hard the whole event had hit his funny bone.

"Are these, uh, golden s-showers, Taichi?" Yamato mumbled out through the small breaks between laughs.

"Oh, crap…" The heavy realization finally hit Taichi and forced him to sit back down on the couch in defeat. How had he not made the connection? "I swear I heard that quote somewhere before."

"It's the motto of that strip club downtown." Iori, who had caught the tale end of the conversation while getting his drink from the kitchen, entered the room and sat down on the other side of Yamato.

"How do you know that?" Taichi asked, effectively passing the interest from himself to the reserved Iori.

The other boys in the room watched Iori's face for some sign of emotion. They were all adults, and had all been involved in adult relationships, but the thought of Hida Iori knowing anything about the adult world of strip clubs was amazingly hilarious and impossible to each person in the room. Their shock didn't appear to faze the young man in the slightest. Instead of muttering a profanity like Taichi, Iori simply shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of his drink.

"It was a dare from my old roommate in college."

Each of the boys stared at their friend, desperate for more details about this adventure. How had Iori kept this to himself all this time? It didn't surprise Yamato that the quiet boy was not launching into a bragging session, but he still couldn't believe Iori was so frank about the whole thing. Even Daisuke had been more open to telling the story of how one of his exs had dragged him into a club and, through a night of misadventures, gotten him and her jealous hulk-of-an-ex arrested for fighting. There was no way in Yamato's mind that Iori's story could top that doozy. So why be so secretive?

"What happened? Did you get a lap dance or pass out from shock or something?" Taichi's curiosity hit overdrive and he shoved Yama against the couch backrest so he could see Iori's face.

"Don't we have something more important to be talking about?" Iori set his glass on the table and picked up one of Jou's quote books.

"More important then what happened the night Hida Iori was drug to a strip club? Heck no."

Tai pulled the book from his friend's hands and offered a large toothy grin. His embarrassment over trying to leave the baby a strip club slogan was long gone, and replaced by the stubborn determination to dig out every fact he could get from Iori. Koushiro shook his head and attempted to stand up for Iori's right to keep certain stories under wraps.

"Taichi, he doesn't have to talk about it if he doesn't want to. And we really need to focus on our quotes anyway."

"Oh come on," Taichi playfully whined, "We have time for one story."

"Maybe he doesn't want to share what happened that night?" Koushiro protested with a slightly firmer voice.

"You act like you know something." Yamato mumbled, not really caring to much about who knew what in this particular situation.

"That's it!" Taichi used the simple statement as a step and turned his attention to the red-head, "You know something about that night! But you didn't go to college with Iori… so you must have been there yourself."

"Maybe he just heard the story from Iori before?" Jou attempted to defend his friend while closing his book. The room had descended into anarchy and studying was growing more impossible by the minute.

"No way." Taichi's evil grin, saved for only the juiciest of secrets or mischievous of moments, formed on his face. "Koushiro was at that club. I can sense it."

"With your strip radar?" Yamato replied sarcastically.

"Exactly. Now either you guys tell the story on your own accord or we may have to use force."

"This is ridiculous Taichi." Koushiro shook his head and walked to the other side of the room. "I am not saying anything about anything."

"So you do know!" Like a shot, Taichi was off the couch and next to Koushiro. "Come on, you know you want to let it off your chest."

"Koushiro," Yamato spoke up from the couch and offered the boy a sympathetic expression, "Trust me on this, he is a little more crazy then average when it comes to secrets. If you don't tell him something he will never let you have a moment of peace."

"It wasn't Koushiro who was at the club."

Iori's completely surprising outburst earned him full attention. The normally reserved boy blinked slowly a few times, as if he himself was surprised by his actions. Taichi seemed to be untrusting of this new information, but he eventually gave up eyeing Koushiro to stare at Iori. The poor kid had no idea what hit him next.

"So it was someone in the group." Taichi bounded to Iori's side and stared at the boy, "Who was it? Mimi? Sora? Ken?"

"I promised him I wouldn't say anything, Tai. So I am not going to."

"So it definitely was a him?" The brunet was ruthless in his quest and let his grin grow even wider.

"No… I… it was…"

Iori was trapped and everyone knew it. The look of pure fascination plastered across Taichi's face, like a weapon set to go off at any minute, left Iori speechless. Unnoticed by the duo was the stress the situation was causing on another member of the group. The red head furrowed his brow, and let his logical side take a back seat to his urge to free Iori from scrutiny.

"It was Jou."

"Koushiro!" The blue haired man yelled out in surprise and embarrassment as he was drawn into the conversation. His pale face was quickly doused in a deep crimson, but he wasn't going down alone. "There were no golden showers! They made me go there! At least I'm not the one who got stuck in the girl's locker room naked!"

"What?" Taichi laughed out loud as the room began to fly into a mine field of secrets. It was just his luck that, Koushiro's eyes targeted on him.

"Oh you think that is funny?" He grumbled the words out and looked to Yamato, "Did he ever tell you that he knew your brother and his sister were dating four months before you did?"

"You did what now?" Yamato sat up on the couch and stared at Taichi with confused eyes, "Why would you lie to me about that?"

"Probably, because he found out when he accidentally caught them _using_ your bed."

"_My_ bed?!" Yamato groaned loudly and tried to decided if he should throw the mattress out or just burn it. Couldn't his little brother have picked someplace besides his once comfy bed to do those things? "Why the hell didn't you tell me about any of this?"

"At least, I didn't destroy your amplifier by plugging in to many things and starting the electric surge of '09, like a certain computer expert!" Taichi stared at Koushiro, daring him to try to top that.

"That wasn't completely his fault." A guilt ridden Jou held up his hand. "I was the one who messed with the buttons and helped that process…"

Yamato sat in shock as everyone around him let out a secret about the past. Apparently, there had been quite a few things going on under the blond's nose. How had he missed all these startling events? And why was he the one that everyone had kept in the dark about… everything?! Wasn't there an honest person in the entire room?

"I can't believe none of you ever told me about any of this. I can't believe you would keep these secrets all this time and never own up to any of them."

While the red-head and blue-haired Jou ducked their heads and let the shame roll over them, Taichi raised an eyebrow and let out a slow whistle. He eyed Yamato with a knowing expression and pointed at the boy's face. "Alright, if we are coming clean. Did you ever tell Iori about the time you set fire to his favorite kendo sword before the school finals?"

"That is what happened to my shinai?" Iori asked as his eyes began to bug out slightly in surprise. "You told me it got stolen."

"Alright, alright." Yamato stood up and tried to regain the order in the room. "So we have all done some stupid things. Some did more then other-"

"Don't look at me while you say that." Taichi grumbled and sat down on the couch once again.

"Anyway, can we just agree to keep whatever was said a secret and never talk about this stuff again?"

"That might be harder then you think Yamato."

The boy's all turned to see a group of giggling girls in the hallway connecting the living room to the rest of the apartment. Miyako, the speaker of the group, had a grin so large on her face that her glasses were raised a few centimeters by her cheeks. Sora and Mimi stood behind the woman and seemed to be recovering from a fit of giggles. When she had regained a bit more of her breath, Sora waggled a small electronic device in the air for everyone to see.

"What is that thing?" Taichi asked and noticed it looked similar to the object that had been sitting on the coffee table.

"It's a baby monitor…" Koushiro answered with his face in his hands.

"It just so happens, I put them in the wrong rooms." Miyako giggled through her statement, "We might have heard a few of the details."

"But don't worry boys," Mimi laughed harder as each male averted her stare, "We can keep a secret."

* * *

**A stupid, silly little chapter finished. There was no real point to this one. I was just having fun putting the boys through various levels of embarrassment. : ) **


	10. Fish

**Author's Note: I do not own Digimon.**

**Thank you to all my lovely readers and reviewers! This chapter is going to star Takeru, Hikari, and their son. One of my readers and loyal reviewers has been patiently waiting (much more patiently then I have ever waited for anything lol) for a chapter staring these two. **

**Alright, here is Fish:**

* * *

Takashi Takeru stared at the murky brown water with a deep-set frown. This Sunday had been perfect, until a certain surprise had come to his attention. Thanks to Miyako and Ken, and their super-human ability to take small children to a kid's concert and not lose their minds, Takeru had been able to spend a lovely day with his wife. They had shopped, eaten out, and avoided any phone calls from his publisher. But now he sat, a mere hour before his son was to come home, with a dead goldfish.

"What are you looking at?" Hikari's sweet voice greeted his ears as she walked into their son's bedroom. It didn't take long before the smell reached her nose and forced it to crinkle in disgust. "What is that smell?"

"Remember Awa?"

"Oh no," She sighed softly and looked over his shoulder. "What happened? We just brought the goldfish home two days ago."

"Well," He pulled up his sleeve and grabbed two wooden sticks from the bottom of the bowl. "If I had to guess? It might be death by popsicles."

As Takeru walked past her to throw away the sticks and wash his hands, Hikari picked up the bowl and carried it to the living room. She set it on the coffee table and tried to decide what their next step should be. Their son Kouki was only five and had never dealt with death of any kind before, a fact for which she was eternally grateful. There had to be a correct way to explain this to the little boy. She could have sworn they had mentioned to Kouki that animals have to have certain needs met to be healthy. But they had never mentioned what 'not healthy' meant in this case.

With new determination to handle the milestone in the best manner, Hikari turned to her bookshelf and pulled out a few child development books. As she skimmed the sections about death, her concern began to grow. It seemed that even the professionals had differing opinions about what was the best way to explain death to small children.

"Alright." Takeru entered the room with his car keys in hand and kissed the top of his wife's head. "I'll be right back."

"What? Where are you going?"

"If I hurry I can get another goldfish before the store closes."

"Takeru," She frowned at him, "We are not going to just put another fish in the bowl and pretend nothing happened."

The boy paused a moment and tried to think through his next actions. There were two roads he could take, but each one seemed to end with a very disgruntled Hikari. After a moment of contemplation, he set his keys on the table and prepared himself for a discussion he feared would rival the historic circumcision debate, aka battle, five years earlier.

"Kouki is only five. He can't understand death and the finality of it. If we tell him about it at this age we might scare him for life."

"Not if we handle it in an age-appropriate manner. Here," She handed him a book and pointed to a specific paragraph.

As his eyes examined the page, the unfairness of the situation began to invade his mind. There shouldn't be books on how to explain death to children. Was it too much to ask for a world where innocent kids could just play and be carefree? Judging by the book his wife had been reading, death was supposed to be relayed to children as a natural process. Nothing about death seemed natural to Takeru. It was inevitable, but if he had his way it wouldn't have to happen. There wouldn't be pain for families or loneliness for loved ones. How could he teach his son about the harsh realities this early in life? It wasn't fair to Kouki. He should not have to worry about those kinds of things.

"He is to young for this." Takeru passed the book back to his wife. "If we tell him now it will just worry him. What is so wrong about getting another fish this time, and letting him learn about things like death when he is older?"

Hikari frowned at the statement. She could understand where her husband was coming from, and even applauded the fact he wanted to make sure their son was saved from experiencing pain, but it wasn't right. They couldn't lie to the little boy. If he came home, stared at his fish with confusion, and asked why it looked different she would crack. They had to be honest with their child. Yes, it was hard, but if they did it correctly it might not be quite as shocking.

"We can't lie to him." She stood up from the couch and tried to find another psychology book on the shelf, "What if he finds out we switched his fish? Don't you think he will assume death is something terrifying if he realizes we went through so much effort to hide it from him?"

"He'll still be terrified when he realizes that death happens to everyone sometime. Remember when we had to explain why the man on the corner didn't have a home? He spent the next week scared we would lose our apartment and hoarding food."

"Three cans of soup and a box of cereal does not count as hoarding."

"All I'm saying is we thought we had covered it in a way he could understand and he still got scared." Takeru grabbed his wife's shoulders gently and looked into her crimson eyes. "I know we have to tell him about death someday… but can't we agree it should be a someday in the future?"

For a moment, an actual full moment, Hikari was sold on the idea of pushing their discussion of death back a year or two. A memory flash later and that moment was destroyed. Suddenly her mind was filled with images of a certain feline that had been part of her family for years. She hadn't been able to remember a time without the family cat, Meeko.

When he had passed away during her last year of high school, the pain had been intense and heart breaking. She had cried for her lost friend and spent quite a while in a dark mood, but now she was considering what would have happened if her mom hadn't told her. What if they had just bought another cat and told her that it was Meeko? As sad as the death was, the thought of never getting a chance to grieve and say goodbye was far worse. She had needed that truthful talk to help her make peace with the fact her cat had passed away. Kouki deserved just as much, in her opinion.

"No. We have to be honest with him." She broke their embrace and walked over to look at the fish. "He needs to be able to grieve and understand that death is a natural part of life."

"He doesn't even know what the word 'grieve' means."

"Takeru, haven't you ever had a pet pass away? Didn't you want to know so you could pay your respects?"

Silently, the boy wondered how much respect you could actually pay to a two-day old fish. But all he said was," No. I mean, I lost a pet… but he didn't die."

"You mean he got out of your apartment?"

Takeru shook his head and sat down on the couch, "No. I had a hamster back when my parents were still together. But one day the apartment complex changed its rules and my mom had to give him away to a family who lived on the other side of town."

The story smelled funny to Hikari, who sat down beside her husband and tried to gently pry for more details, "Why would they pass a no hamster rule?"

"I'm not sure. It was strange really… none of the other animals in the building were banned. I just came home one day and my mom said the landlord had told her she had to get rid of him…" A sudden realization was beginning to dawn on Takeru. "And that we couldn't visit because the family lived too far away… Noooo!"

Suddenly, the tale he had believed for multiple years was crumbling before his eyes. How had he missed the fact his mother had been lying?! Then again, how could he have believed the story about an anti-hamster alliance for so long?

"I have to make a phone call." He grabbed Hikari's cell from the coffee table and dialed his mother's number, before walking out of the room.

Before she could decide to follow or leave Takeru alone, the doorbell chimed loudly throughout the apartment. She stood up slowly and walked to the door with a little apprehension. As much as she wanted to tell her son the truth, she also knew it was going to be a hard truth.

"Okaasan!"

Kouki grabbed hold of her as soon as the door opened and hugged her as tightly as his tiny muscles could muster. A smile broke onto Hikari's face and she hugged the boy back before turning to a tired looking Ken. The man smiled and handed Hikari a balloon Kouki had received from the concert. Instead of letting her son run off into the apartment while the adults exchanged quick pleasantries, she kept a hand on him and made sure he did not glance towards the living room.

"Kouki," She spoke to the boy in a softer voice than normal as Ken left their home. "How was the concert?"

"It was great! I got to dance and sing on the stage!"

"That sounds like a lot of fun." She took her son's hand and walked him into the living room.

"What's wrong with Otosan?" The boy pointed with his free hand as Takeru walked through the living room and into the kitchen. He seemed to be talking rather loudly on a pink phone.

"Nothing, honey. He just needed to talk to your Obaa-chan for a little while."

The child seemed pleased with the simple answer and pulled his hand from Hikari's. He spotted the fishbowl quickly and stared at the fish who was floating on his back with slight confusion. When he had left for the concert, Awa had been in the same position. And all the food flakes he had thrown in the bowl were still sitting on the rocky bottom. The only thing different was the popsicle sticks, but he figured it was a good sign the fish had liked the popsicle. Who didn't like popsicles?

"Why is he still sleeping?"

The question Hikari had been waiting for finally came out of Kouki's mouth. She took a deep, calming breath and picked up her son from the floor. They settled on the couch, Kouki in her lap with Hikari's warm arms wrapped around him. Unlike his nervous mother, Kouki seemed comfortable and snuggled closer to her. She was acting strange, in the child's opinion, but he didn't mind.

"Honey, Awa isn't sleeping." She hugged him even tighter in an attempt to bring more comfort to the situation, "Awa's…"

"What?"

"Awa is dead, Kouki." Takeru rejoined their group and sat next to Hikari. He looked a little frazzled, but his wife was overjoyed to have her partner nearby for this talk.

"What is dead?" The boy stared up with innocent crimson eyes and waited to see what this new word meant about his fish.

"When someone dies, thier body stops working. They can't move, eat, or sleep like you and I can."

This idea scared the child. Did this mean he could no longer watch his fish swim around the bowl? Awa was supposed to go with him to show and tell at school. Could he still show a fish that couldn't do anything? What was going to happen to the fish now? "When will Awa not be dead anymore?"

"When someone dies, they don't come back."

A worried frown began to settle on the child's face, "But I fed him and talked to him and everything. I even gave him my favorite popsicle. The blue and green ones."

Although he wouldn't voice it out loud, Takeru was gaining even more understanding of why the water was so discolored. The poor fish had been swimming in a murky Kool-Aid for at least a night, since Kouki had only eaten popsicles the night before. Looking back on it now, it would have been a good idea to ask the boy what he meant when he took an extra one for his 'friend'. Takeru had just assumed it was an excuse to get an extra treat.

"Fish don't really like popsicles, sweetie." Hikari kept her tone gentle as the realization began to hit her baby boy. "Remember when we told you how fishes like to eat fish food instead of what we eat?"

"I forgot about that…" He hung his head down and remained silent for a few seconds. When he looked back up, a new level of worry was clouding his eyes, "Do people die too or just fishes? I don't want you and Otosan to die."

"Everyone does die at some point, just like everyone is born at some point. One day, when someone gets very old their body becomes tired and doesn't work as well as it used to. And when their body can't work any longer, they die."

"So only old people die?"

"Well," Takeru took over for his wife and fielded the next question, "Sometimes a person's body wears out when they are young. But your Okaasan and I make sure that we eat healthy, exercise, and follow all of the safety rules. That helps us stay safe and live a long life. That is why we always tell you to eat your vegetables and get plenty of sleep. We want you to stay healthy and happy."

Kouki smiled softly as his fears of losing his parents were lowered. He wished people didn't have to die, but his parents seemed to be pretty sure on the fact they weren't going anywhere. At least he would be able to keep them. They were the most special people he knew and he wanted them to be around forever and ever.

"What do you do after someone dies?"

The parents glanced at the fish and silently debated if it would be too traumatic for Kouki if they flushed him down the toilet. It was the common practice for disposing of fish, but the way Kouki watched the floating creature made Takeru and Hikari reconsider. The last thing Takeru wanted was his son to expect each funeral to end with a pull of a plunger. Maybe they could bury Awa? But where would you bury a goldfish in the city?

"Well, a lot people have funerals." Hikari took her turn and kissed the child's forehead. "There are many different kinds, but the main thing is to remember and honor the person who died."

"How do you honor a fish?"

Takeru nodded his head in agreement to his son's question. How, indeed.

"Well, you honor a person by dressing nicely, talking about all the good memories you shared, and spending time with the person's family and friends."

"What kind of funeral can we have for Awa?" The idea of honoring his fishy brought a smile to Kouki's face. He felt somewhat grown-up getting to do this for his little friend.

"Um," Hikari spared a glance to her husband, who seemed equally unsure where they could put a dead fish. "Well, we could bury him in the park. That way he would be near the pond that we always visit."

"He would like that." Kouki nodded his head definitively and squirmed off of his mother's lap. "We have to get dressed up really, really good so we can make sure he gets honor."

**XXX**

As they stood at the edge of the pond, Takeru was sure people were staring at his family. Then again, if he were in their shoes, he would have stared too. Hikari was wearing a black dress that went down to her knees. The sun reflecting off of the glittery dress was almost blinding to Takeru. If Kouki hadn't demanded that it was the correct dress to honor Awa, Takeru was sure Hikari would have gone with something not so nightclub-y. For his part, the blond was decked out in a black suit and skinny tie. It was the only suit that he hadn't sent off to the cleaners and it left his body in a state of constant itching. The most fashionably challenged member of the group was Kouki, who was currently decked out in a purple tie, grey suit coat, striped shirt, navy blue dress pants, and of course Awa's favorite pair of froggy rain boots. How the fish had told his son that he liked those boots, Takeru didn't know. But he wasn't in a place to question.

Kouki bent down to place the goldfish, hidden in a box from a deck of cards, in the hole he had dug. He mumbled something softly to the fish, then raked the dirt over the hole. When he stood back up, Hikari placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed the top of his head. Kouki grabbed hold of his mother's hands and stared at the hole with a sad expression.

"You know," Hikari spoke up softly and knelt beside her son. "It might make you feel better to talk about the good times you had with Awa."

"Will you say one too?"

"Sure." Takeru knelt down next to his son. As silly as he felt doing this in the middle of the park, he was willing to do anything for Kouki. Even try to find a good memory of a two day old fish. "I'll never forget watching how happy you were when he came to live with you."

Although it was more about him then the fish, Kouki grinned at the thought and hugged his dad's arm.

"And, I'll always remember how quickly he could swim around his bowl." Hikari picked a flower growing next to the pond and set it on top of the grave.

Kouki stared at the grave in silence, then added, "I'll always remember he was my first pet ever."

Takeru wasn't sure how long they stayed at the makeshift graveside. All he knew was a while later, Kouki asked to be carried back home. He was perfectly capable of walking and a little old to be carried around, but Takeru wasn't going to push the subject today. He could see how tired the boy was, and knew it would be easier for everyone involved to call the day quits sooner rather then later.

As the trio headed back to their apartment, Kouki rested his head on his father's shoulder and seemed to be thinking rather hard on something. Eventually he spoke up in a tired voice, "Otosan? Can I get a hamster?"

Hikari watched a quick flash of surprise and sadness wash over her husband's face. Before she could intervene, Takeru cleared his throat and steered the subject to a slightly different course, "How about a puppy?"

"A puppy?" This pleased Kouki greatly and forced a large smile to replace his frown. "Really?"

"Sure. We'll look into it tomorrow."

* * *

**So that was much longer then I expected it to be. Anyway, I wanted to first say thanks to Chromate for telling me about the name Kouki. It really is cute that it combines aspects of Hikari and Takeru. Secondly, I am not sure whether or not Takeru and Hikari were totally in character here. I figure they have a strong friendship and relationship, but that doesn't mean they can't disagree over parenting methods. And since death is a hard subject to explain to children, I figure they could be a little off kilter for this story. **


	11. Medicine

**Author's Note: I do not own Digimon.**

**Thank you to all who read and those who also reviewed. : ) It is nice to hear from you guys and gals. By the way, this chapter seems a little more odd than the others. I'm not sure why, it just does.**

**Anywho, here is Medicine:**

* * *

One more test.

One more test and he would be official.

One more simple test and he would finally be a doctor.

"Augh…" Kido Jou groaned as the words in his textbook began to fade in and out of focus. "The biggest test of my life and I can't even read a simple paragraph."

Honestly, he couldn't recall what hour he had started his last study session before the big day. The sun had been out and he could have sworn that there had been noises outside. Yes, he was sure there had been noises because he had put in his ear plugs to block them. As he glanced out his window, the young man was shocked to see empty streets and a star filled sky. Perhaps he had been studying for a bit too long.

After multiple years of working towards his goal, Jou was now closer than ever. And to be honest, it scared him a little bit. Well, more then a little bit… A lot. It scared him a whole, heck of a lot. This test could make or break his career. Sure, he could try again after a year, but it wouldn't be the same.

When his father had taken the test his score had been one of the highest in history. Shin, his older brother, had continued the tradition and brought home a score that rivaled their father's own. None of his relatives had ever had to repeat this damn test, and there was no way Jou could break that tradition without being a failure in his father's eyes.

A mere night before he had overheard his father saying practically as much. Sure, the older Kido had no idea his son had been listening, but that only served to make the statement truer in Jou's opinion. The senior Kido had been sitting in his chair, eyes closed in a look of intense concentration. Although his words were quiet and mumbled, Jou had been almost sure he heard Jou, failure, family, fear, and certain. The simple words had easily been whipped into a perfect fear storm by the boy's anxiety filled brain.

"I can't let him down."

The boy furrowed his brow and stared at the blurry words once more. When a sharp pain began to attack his right temple, he laid his head on the desk and closed his eyes for a moment. If he rested for only a few seconds his brain would have a chance to recharge. Then he could re-read the book for the fifth time and everything would be okay. He just needed to close his eyes for a few seconds...

**XXX**

"Wake up Jou!"

The boy's eyes opened in a flash as the familiar sound came to his ears. A set of green eyes, paired with rather horrible fish breath, stared eagerly at the boy. How this particular friend had gotten into his room was a mystery to Jou. Of course, the bigger mystery was how he had ended up in a place that was definitely not his room.

"What is going on?"

"It is time to operate!" Gomamon jumped on top of his friend and cheered happily. "Operate, operate, and operate!"

"What?" Jou pushed the Digimon off and stood up with shaky feet.

Instead of his sweat pants and hooded sweatshirt, his body was now clothed in a pair of sea green scrubs. As his hands searched the top of his head, he discovered a thin hair cover. Although the clothing would have been completely out-of-place in his bedroom, they fit in perfectly with the old-fashioned surgery room he and Gomamon where now standing in. Then again, were was Gomamon?

"This stuff is so weird!" The creature in question, was happily spinning on a rolling stool in the corner of the room. "Spin me faster Jou!"

"No, no, no," He plucked the hyperactive Digimon off the stool and collapsed onto the floor. "We have to get out of here."

"Why? You're the doctor."

"I'm not a doctor yet. And if I don't get out of here to pass the test, I never will be." Jou charged to the only door in the room and tried to push it open. The darn thing wouldn't budge no matter how hard he shoved. "What is going on here? I have to get back to my room!"

"You can't leave before the operation!" Gomamon eyed the stool again, but Jou blocked his path.

"No stool. And what operation? I can't operate on anybody."

"Doctor! Doctor!" Another voice broke into the conversation as a middle-aged nurse wheeled a hospital patient into the room. "It is time. You must remove the heart!"

It took a second for everything to absorb in Jou's mind. How had the woman been able to enter through the broken door? He darted over to the swinging doors and tried in vain to push them open. For him, they might as well have just been drawn on the wall. It wasn't until the woman mentioned removing the patient's heart, that he gave her his attention once again.

"You want me to what?"

"Remove the heart for fifty dollars!" Gomamon joked as he sat on a non-movable stool and stared at the patient.

"There is no time for conversation!" The surprisingly strong nurse drug Jou over to the gurney and placed a scalpel in his hand. "You must take out the heart! The media demands it!"

"M…media?" Jou mumbled and felt his forehead break out into a sweat.

The room grew blindingly bright as multiple camera men and women ran in and began to take flash photographs of him and Gomamon. The Digimon grinned widely and wrapped a flipper around his partner's neck. Jou closed his eyes and tried to pretend he was back home in his safe and quiet room. This had to be some kind of stress induced psychosis. He had read about it in chapter four… or was it twelve? Why couldn't he remember anything?!

"Come on Jou!" Gomamon let go of his neck and pointed to the patient on the table, who Jou had just noticed had a covered face. "You can get that heart!"

"But…. He… She? They need anesthesia and IVs!"

"Not here, my dear!" The nurse admonished him and placed his scalpel filled hand on the patient's chest. "Now operate or you'll stay here forever. We have all the time in the world. Do you?"

As a bead of sweat rolled down Jou's forehead, the boy tried to take slower breaths than the sporadic gasps he had been relying on. Why hadn't his inhaler been transported to the loony land with him? As the reporters began to chant the nurse's sentiment and Gomamon offered his own cheerleading section, Jou pushed the scalpel into the patient's chest and made a large incision. If he played along, surely he would wake up from this nightmare.

Instead of blood or any normal signs of a customary operation, the man's chest opened to reveal an animated object shaped like a cartoon heart. The bizarre creature crawled out and stood on the non-opened part of the chest. Its eyes were large and narrowed in a threatening manner, as they settled upon the scared young adult. He frowned at Jou and let out a noise that sounded like a low growl. Unlike Gomamon, who found the situation fascinating, Jou watched with a twitching eye as everything he knew about modern medicine was destroyed by a walking valentine.

"Who dares try to remove me?!" The heart demanded, forcing Jou to collapse in shock on Gomamon's favorite rolling stool.

"Look at it, Jou!" Gomamon, ever cheery, stared in happy amazement and poked the heart with one of his claws. The cartoonish organ let out an angry noise and shook his fist at the Digimon. "Boy, he is a cold heart. Isn't he, Jou?"

"It is tal… talking!" The nervous boy whimpered, unsure he could play along with this world much longer before a panic attack settled in.

"And it never shuts up!" A new organ crawled out from the opening and glared at the heart. "He always has to be the star of the show! He just pushes people around, the big bully!"

"Well we all can't be a self-destructive time bomb." The heart stopped glaring daggers at the grinning Gomamon to send even colder expressions at his bodily enemy.

"We appendixes are an important and loved organ!"

"By the medical waste bag, maybe!"

Gomamon watched with childlike wonder as the two organs began to fight on top of the patient. He turned to call Jou over to watch the disagreement with him, but the boy was sitting in a corner with his knees pressed against his chest. It seemed like Jou was more focused on not hyperventilating then watching the organ fight club. The Digimon's smile left his face and he hurriedly flopped over to Jou.

"Hey," His green eyes watched the boy kindly, as his flipper wrapped around Jou's shoulders. "What's wrong? This is quality entertainment."

"Entertainment? This is a nightmare! How can I ever be a doctor if I can't even perform surgery, in my _own_ dream, without the organs starting fights and crawling around the room?!"

"Jou," Gomamon's tone dropped to a more serious one, "That is the key."

"Failing?" The boy finally looked to his partner's face with worried eyes.

"Nooooo, this is your dream. That is the key." Gomamon pointed to the room before them. Each of the colorful characters were frozen in place, and for once there was complete silence in the room. "If you don't believe in your dream of being a doctor, how can anyone else?"

"But this test… it.. it's the biggest one. What would my dad think if I failed it? He'd be so disappointed."

"Jou, you sure miss some important things." Gomamon rolled his eyes and pointed at his friend's chest. "You are the smartest guy I know, but you just don't get it. Your dad doesn't care if you score high, he cares that you try your best. And isn't that all you should care about too?"

The idea seemed far too simple in the man's opinion. His family hadn't consistently produced adequate doctors, they had routinely produced amazing above-and-beyond doctors. As much as he wanted to believe that any grade he produced from trying his hardest would be welcomed, he couldn't. That wasn't how his family worked. The Kido's demanded excellence at each turn, and Jou was no longer sure he could produce that. When placed in the highly stressful situation of his dream, everything he had ever known about medicine had vanished from his memory. Sure, the situation was completely ridiculous... but it still proved his point.

"Alright!" Gomamon attempted to pull Jou's arm towards the frozen medical scene. "You gotta get back in there!"

"Don't you get it?" The boy stood up, mainly to keep his arm from the insistent seal creature, "I can't do it! I froze before, I'll freeze again!"

Gomamon frowned at his friend and tried to push him forward by butting his head against the back of Jou's legs. He couldn't understand what Jou didn't see in himself. As far as his Digimon was concerned, Jou was the most talented doctor-in-training there ever was or could be. If the anxiety ridden man could just get a little more confidence in himself he would be able to see how talented he was. There had to be a way to get his friend to move forward and face his fears. The most motivating thing Gomamon could think of was to remind Jou of another one of his pressing anxieties.

"You know, if you don't face your fear you might never get out of here for that test..."

The statement got Jou moving forward. It was a slow slightly drunken walk, but it was a forward moving motion. Gomamon hurried to catch up to his friend and cheered the boy on as loudly as he could. Jou never looked at him, but the Digimon was sure he could hear the shouting. No one could ignore noises as loud as the ones he was creating.

Walking back to the table was painful in more ways than one. Jou could feel the sweat rolling down his face as his stomach tried to offer an upheaval of his lunch. Why was he doing this? Why in the world would he go through with this procedure when he knew he couldn't make it through this or his test? Gomamon's shouting began to penetrate his brain, and Jou looked to his left where the Digimon was grinning ear to ear. Even when he didn't believe in his abilities, that little creature fully believed in him. Gomamon never doubted him or told him he couldn't do something. If someone else could have that much confidence in him, why couldn't he?

Jou furrowed his brow with new determination and offered his best friend an appreciative smile. The Digimon winked at him and offered one more cheer as they headed towards the gurney. Each step Jou took offered him a new level of self-confidence and a more realistic medical situation. One step, and the battling organs vanished. Two steps, and the paparazzi morphed into the necessary medical equipment and supplies. Three steps, and the sour-faced nurse transformed into a kindly looking assistant. As his last step brought him to the side of the gurney, the entire room shifted into a modern setting. He looked down at his middle-aged patient and forced himself to focus on the task at hand.

The strange thing about the operation, besides the fact it was taking place in the weirdest nightmare he had ever had, was that it seemed to bring every skill he had learned or practiced in the past six years back to him. He no longer felt the crippling doubt brought out by a complete lack of knowledge. As his hands wisely maneuvered through the necessary actions he found his confidence rising to a new high. By the time he finished the operation a large smile was plastered on his face. Gomamon cheered once more and leapt into his friend's arms.

"You did it, Jou!" The Digimon cheered happily and let out a few chuckles. "I knew you could! Just took a few a panic attacks and an organ fight club and-"

"I get it, I get it." Jou laughed along with his friend, unable to hide his new-found joy. "Hey, what's happening to the room?"

Gomamon looked at the medical supplies and people as they began to fade away, then looked back into Jou's eyes, "The operation is over."

"So? Why does that cue a disappearing act?"

"Hello?" Gomamon playfully knocked on the boy's head, "You faced your fear remember? Fear can't exist if you don't feed it with worry and panic."

Suddenly, the dream world was beginning to make sense, a fact that interested and slightly worried Jou. When the insane began to make sense it was usually a sign to get out while you still could. When the room had completely vanished and the duo were left in an empty void, Jou felt his Digimon squirm in his arms. He let go of Gomamon and watched as the creature began to fade like the room had moments earlier. Jou dropped to his knees and tried to hold onto his friend.

"What is going on Gomamon?"

"It's time to go, Jou." The Digimon grinned and offered one flipper in the air to be high-fived, "Just remember the you can do this. And it doesn't matter what happens if you give it all you can!"

A bittersweet smile passed over Jou's face and he grabbed his friend's flipper tightly, "You got it, Gomamon. I'll do my best. Thank you."

"Oh, Jou," The creature winked at him and faded into the air.

**XXX**

As the real world came thundering back to Jou, he sat up with a start and scrambled to find his cell phone. With phone in hand, he darted out of his room and past a rather confused set of parents. It took only a few minutes to slip on his shoes by the door, but it was enough time for his father to catch up to his hurried child. The eldest Kido laid a hand on Jou's shoulder and tried to offer him a comforting smile.

"I know you can do it, Jou."

The boy thanked his father respectfully then darted out the door in fear of being late to the examination. He didn't know for sure if he would get a score higher than his brother's or father's, but in truth he no longer cared. All that mattered was that he was going to try his hardest on this and every future obstacle in his path. As long as he did that he knew he could make his family and Gomamon proud. And maybe, just maybe, he could also be proud of himself.

* * *

**There actually is an exam at the end of the medical school track for Japanese doctors. I did a little research on the subject, but couldn't figure out if the test was scored on a pass/fail basis or a specific number range (i.e: 1-100). Also, I kind of destroyed the Digimon doctor aspect for Jou in this tale. I actually didn't mind him being a Digimon doctor, but I needed him to be a human doctor for this tale.**


	12. Home

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. **

**It has been a pretty long time since I updated this story. I am trying my hardest to work on chapters for everything, but this one needed some attention first. So here we go boys and girls; This chapter is Home.**

* * *

Izumi Koushiro had accomplished more than the average thirty-year-old man. Between battling with digital monsters to save two worlds he had managed to flourish in school and graduate years ahead of his age group. As a college student he had created multiple computer programs to assist his professors with their organization and grading systems. By the age of twenty-three, he had formed a million dollar electronics company known for producing some of the highest quality devices in Japan. In short, Koushiro was almost certain that he could handle anything life could throw his way. Until life threw him the challenge he loved more than anything, yet also felt completely unprepared for.

"You can't wear the ladybug costume to the party, Michiko."

The five-year-old furrowed her brow and stared up at her father with an expression that he had seen on her mother's face countless times before. The mother in question, was happily avoiding this constant clothing battle by riding the excuse that she needed to help set up for the party. Koushiro was more than positive that the decorators did not need, nor welcome, outside assistance, but there was no stopping that woman when she got her mind-set on something. Which was another strong similarity she shared with their only child.

"I am a ladybug!" The girl stomped her red flat covered foot on the ground and Koushiro felt a wave of deja vu wash over him. How many times had he seen that foot stomp? Far more than he wished to remember, since it was usually a sign that his daughter was tired and going to make this an even longer fight.

"Yes, yes," He knelt down and placed his hands on her tiny shoulders, "But why don't we be a lady bug in a nice dress?"

"I can't put a dress over my wings daddy. It won't fit."

_Of course she could find a way around that one, _he thought, but merely said, "How about I make you a deal? You pretend to be a little girl instead of a ladybug for a while, and I'll let you wear a little of mommy's makeup to the party."

Michiko's mouth dropped into a shocked circle as the idea washed over her brain. Bugs were one of her favorite things in the whole wide world, particularly lady bugs, but this was a chance to play with the stuff her mother had always told her to stay away from. How could she pass up the chance to sit in the big chair and play with all of her mothers containers of makeup? There was no way she would give that chance up!

"Okay daddy!" The child ran away from him with a maniacal smile coating her tiny face.

As he waited for his daughter to leave her room in the dress he had selected for her, Koushiro was feeling pretty confident. Michiko had been agreeable to his selection of a green gown and demanded that she was a big enough girl to put on her own outfit. Why hadn't he realized before that makeup was such a huge motivator? If they had used that option before, it was possible his family could have left the house on time more than once every three months. He sank into the couch and let his eyes close contentedly. All he had to do was wait for Michiko to exit her room, put a little of that blush stuff on her cheeks, and they would be out the door. Who said this parenting thing was hard?

"Daddy. Daddy." The soft voice broke his comfortable silence and merged with the tiny finger poking his cheek. "Dadddddy. Are you asleep still?"

"Wha?" Koushiro mumbled the words and rubbed his eyes gently. Had he fallen asleep on the couch? Surely, it had just been a quick two-minute nap while the girl changed. Although he was tired, there was no way he could have slept that long. "Are you finished dres-What happened to you?"

Michiko grinned brightly and twirled in her green dress. What had once been a clean, simple outfit was now coated in a rainbow of stains and a heavy dose of white powder. The oversized white gloves she had to continuously pulled up on her hands boasted matching stains, while only white powder coated her mismatched shoes. Her face had suffered the greatest damage of all, and sported enough makeup to make a convention of hookers shudder in fear. Taking an artistic route, Michiko had decided to draw a star and a flower on her left and right cheeks respectfully. Even her hair was coated in some substance that Koushiro couldn't name.

"Do I look pretty daddy?" Michiko, extremely pleased with her work, twirled once again. "I did my own make up like mommy! You said I could wear some so I tried everything."

"Everything?" His mind raced as he imagined what the master bedroom and bathroom looked like at that moment. If she had gotten this much on herself, the walls and floors didn't stand a chance.

"Yup! Are we gonna go to the party now?"

Koushiro glanced to the clock, then back to his daughter and her five layers of cosmetics. There was no time to clean her up, re-dress her in a non-ruined outfit, and clean the house before the party. Of course, there would be no way he could live it down if his wife saw what a mess he had done of getting his child ready for a simple party. If they were going to make this work, he needed to move at a speed that could rival any superhero.

"Why don't we get you washed up? The sooner we get to the party the sooner you can have a piece of cake."

Bribery had gotten him into this mess, but it had also convinced his daughter to agree to a bath. Normally, he would call it a win, but as he scrubbed make up off the bathroom floor and listened to his daughter explain to him all she had done during his nap, he decided it was best left as an ignored situation no one spoke of again. It took a good fifteen minutes to get the hair spray and gel out of the girl's red locks, but when she exited the tub wrapped in a giant towel, she no longer looked like an example of how to apply makeup with a butter knife.

"Okay." Koushiro hadn't finished cleaning his wife's side of the bathroom yet, and he was pretty sure that the stains in her antique chair she used while applying the products would never come out. But he was not about to let the mischievous Michiko get more than two steps ahead of him. "Let's go get you a new dress."

In the child's bedroom, Koushiro found himself amazed once again at the amount of clothing Michiko had accumulated over her short time on this Earth. It wasn't the girl's fault that her closet looked like the girls' section of a mega mart. When his wife traveled on business she always managed to find a toy and an outfit that Michiko just needed to possess. Koushiro had nothing against gift giving, in fact, he was guilty of adding to his daughter's large collection of insect books and science kits when he traveled, but he couldn't fathom how anyone would need this many outfits. Even if Michiko wore one a day, she wouldn't make it through the group before outgrowing them.

"How about this one?" He held up a red dress with a green heart patch on the base of the skirt.

"It has itchy sleeves." Michiko shook her head emphatically and wandered over to her little reading nook. "Can't I wear the green one?"

"The green one is dirty remember?" He retained his patience, but mentally groaned as the clock on the wall ticked onward, "What about this one?"

"Are you sure the green one is dirty?" She didn't look at his option and busied herself with playing with the plastic dinosaurs scattered around the floor.

"Yes," Koushiro's teeth gritted as he realized he was losing her attention. "Let's put this one on."

When Michiko was dressed in the purple gown with white polka dots, Koushiro ushered her out of the room and back to his bathroom. He sat her on the counter and tried to move a brush through her thick hair. Every time he hit a tangle the girl whimpered and clutched the sore spot on her head. He knew his wife had used something on Michiko's hair to get rid of the knots, but he wasn't sure which of the exotic bottles on the counters could work such magic. Most of the products were labeled with French or German names and he was in no mood to try to translate beauty terms.

"It hurts daddy!" Michiko whimpered louder and shook her head to try to escape his comb, "Use the stuff mommy uses."

"I don't know what mommy uses." He admitted and groaned as the clock in the kitchen chimed to alert him that they only had thirty minutes left. "I'll try to make it less painful, but we need to hurry, okay?"

Michiko turned away from him and reached her hand out to one of the bottles, "This is what mommy uses. It fixes everything."

Koushiro looked at the bottle and noted that it had a Japanese warning on the back of the bottle. Apparently, it was not to be ingested or put in the user's eyes. There was nothing else on the bottle that he could read, but he decided to give his daughter the benefit of the doubt. Michiko had her hair done every morning by her mother, so she must have noticed what products the woman used. He pushed the squirt top down after aiming it at the girl's head and nothing came out. Three more fruitless squeezes and he attempted to shake the contents in hopes they would loosen up. Nothing came out on the fifth squeeze and he let out a frustrated sigh.

"You can open the top." Michiko took the bottle from him and used every ounce of her small muscle power to unscrew the lid. Surprisingly, it popped off easily and splattered the front of her dress. "Oops…"

Koushiro wasn't sure when he had crossed into the land of bad luck, but he was not enjoying the trip. He grabbed the child and darted back to her room at record speed. Without a word, he pulled off the stained dress and put her in a new blue ensemble. Once she was dressed in her fourth outfit of the day, he rushed her back into the bathroom.

The bottle wouldn't squirt any detangler, so he poured a quarter sized amount in his palm and rubbed it through her hair. The comb glided through with little difficulty after the product kicked in and Koushiro let out his breath. "Okay, it will dry by the time we reach the party. Let's get you in some shoes."

"What about the style?"

"Style?" He stared at her in confusion and tried to motion for her to lean closer to him so he could lift her off the counter. "We don't have time to style your hair."

"Mommy always styles it." She frowned softly and Koushiro knew he was treading on dangerous ground.

"I know, but mommy isn't here and daddy doesn't know how to style your hair."

Michiko paused for a moment, her eyebrows dropped in an expression of deep concentration. Normally, Koushiro welcomed any deep thoughts the little girl wished to offer him. He was immensely proud of his child for being particularly bright for a kid her age. Even her teachers, though they were probably paid to speak well of every student in the private school, often commented on how impressed they were with Michiko's ability to think on a higher level. But sometimes, particularly when they were in stressful situations, that gift could get everyone in trouble.

"What if I don't wear any makeup?" She asked in a sweet voice, "Then will you do my hair? Please?"

What could he say? Koushio was not going to pass up the chance to avoid another trip down to the makeup train wreck, "Alright. What do you want in your hair?"

"A pony tail."

Inside the red heads brain was a vast land of facts, trivia, and enough electronic ingenuity to rival the historical greats of any country. What Koushiro did not have in any of his large memory banks, was the procedures it took to create a ponytail. It obviously required an elastic tie and the bunching of hair, so in theory, it shouldn't be too hard. At least that was what he thought after the first few attempts.

"How do women do this everyday?" He grumbled under his breath and brushed every bit of Michiko's hair back. The child's eyes widen at the tugging then widened even further when her father attempted to place her ponytail on the tip-top of her head. Half of the hair fell out of the tie and the rest flopped down into the girl's face.

'Daddy…" Michiko pushed some hair out of her eyes and looked at his reflection in the mirror, "Are you sure you know what you are doing?"

"Of course," He lied and failed once again to capture more than half of the hair, "I'm the CEO of a multinational technological and research company. I can figure out how to fix a pony tail. I just need a better hair thingy… Wait a minute."

Koushiro rushed out of the room and returned only a few seconds later. He grinned at his daughter and held up a device he was sure would fix the problem of an uncooperative hair tie. His solution worked rather perfectly and he was able to get shoes on Michiko a whole two minutes before their deadline to leave the house. As he drove his squeaky clean child to the party he wondered if anyone else had realized the faults old-fashioned hair ties' held in their designs. Maybe he should market his new idea to some beauty company? They would probably be glad to know there is a better, easier solution out there.

As they walked into the party room, Michiko raced ahead and captured her mother in a tight hug. The woman offered her usual compliments about how pretty the child looked and how smart she had told her colleagues Michiko was. It was the same speech Koushiro had heard his wife say multiple times before, but he never doubted it was true. If there was one thing Michiko had, it was parents who thought the world of her. As well as a father willing to YouTube how to make a ponytail.

"Honey," His wife approached him and accepted the kiss he placed on her lips easily. "Did something happen?"

"No." He shook his head and smiled nervously, "Everything went smooth as silk."

"Then why is there a zip tie in our daughter's hair?"

"Well… It might be a bit of a long story…" He chuckled nervously and noticed his baby girl waving from across the room. Her face and the front of her dress was smeared with icing, but she looked beautiful to him as she mouthed a quick, '_I love you, daddy_' to him. At least one of his girls was not going to be angry with him when they saw the makeup stained house that night.

* * *

**This chapter is dedicated to my father and all the other lovely dads who try their hardest to help their kids style their hair. Mine never used a zip tie, but he did make a rather tight ponytail on the very top of my head when I was a little kid. XD. **


	13. Tribal

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.**

**This chapter is, well, it is what it is I guess? XD. Here is Tribal:**

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"Remind me why I'm here." Daisuke asked with uninterested eyes as he and Takeru walked down the empty hallway. "Why are we going to some birthing class when neither of us has anything close to birthing parts?"

"Because, one of us is married to a woman with birthing parts who couldn't make it to class today." Takeru fumbled with the door handle, and adjusted the athletic bag to his other shoulder before trying again.

"That still doesn't explain how you talked me into coming along." Daisuke, offering no help to his struggling friend, leaned on the wall and imagined the horror of a room filled with pregnant women. He honestly couldn't remember why he had ever agreed to accompany Takeru on this adventure into the heart of the pregnancy tribe.

Takeru sighed and wondered why he hadn't tried to bribe one of his other friends into coming along, "When I told you the teacher was single, you jumped on the chance to meet her. Remember?"

Daisuke took a moment to recall the event. When his friend had first asked him to come along for the class, the brunet had almost died of laughter. There had been, he was certain, no way to convince him to step foot into such a place. It wasn't until Takeru pulled up the woman's website and started babbling about it being a legitimate class, that Daisuke had found his incentive. A tall, curvy, and raven-haired incentive had secured his fate. When Takeru had mentioned she was a single lady and adored considerate men, Daisuke had been more than sold.

"Are you here for the birthing class?"

A very tall, muscular woman answered the door after Takeru knocked his knee into the wood. Her deep-set eyes glanced at each man in turn and seemed to be trying to gauge their threat level. It wasn't everyday she received such visitors to a maternity course, so she was particularly suspicious of the duo. Daisuke's frown of disappointment caught her attention, and she watched him even closer than she did Takeru.

"Is this Arai Sensei's class?" Takeru had never seen the hulking woman before, but assumed she must be a teacher assigned to a different room in the community center.

"Yes. She is absent for the day, and I am filling in for her. I'm Saito Sensei."

Takeru introduced himself with the same level of politeness, but Daisuke merely stared at the woman. She appeared to be in her late forties and he was almost positive she could easily bench press him and Takeru without breaking a sweat. The overbearing quality she possessed would probably even scare the testy pregnant women inside the classroom.

"This is Motomiya Daisuke," Takeru covered for his friend's lack of response and adjusted his arm full again, "My wife and I have been taking this course, but she was unable to make it tonight. I came to take notes about today's lesson so I could relay them to her later."

The answer pleased the woman, for the moment, and she allowed the boys to enter the room. Takeru went straight to his normal spot and tried to set up the space like he had for the past few classes. Even if Hikari wasn't in the class that day, he figured practicing couldn't hurt. On the opposite side of the room, Daisuke stared at the various posters advertising proper childcare styles and birthing explanations. When his eyes caught sight of a particularly informative poster about the end stages of labor, he felt a little sick and had to return to Takeru's side.

"Okay," Saito, who now stood in the front of the room with a whistle around her full neck, clapped her hands quickly to draw the groups' attention. "I want our mommies on the mats and the daddies sitting behind them. We are starting today out with some relaxation techniques."

Daisuke hardly believed a woman as intense as Saito could teach him to relax. He watched the other couples arrange themselves in the position the teacher instructed, and wondered how many of them actually wanted to be in this class. It surprised him to see most of the husbands were fully entranced by the teacher and her explanations of some shoulder rub.

"Why have you not moved to your mat?" The teacher pulled her attention away from the couples and stared at Daisuke and Takeru.

"Excuse me?" Takeru, who had been sitting on the mat and writing everything the teacher said, looked up to find her towering over him. He stood in response and tucked the notepad under his arm. "I thought I would just take notes this time."

"Nonsense, you already set up your space and you have a stand in volunteer."

"Wha?" Daisuke shook his head adamantly; he was not there to play wife or husband. The only reason he had even come to keep Takeru company was absent for the day! "I'm not a-"

"You will learn a lot more by doing rather than watching. Now, I expect you to either participate in class or stand outside until the end discussion."

As the teacher left the two boys and went back to instructing the entire class, their nervous eyes turned to stare at each other. The blond looked at his friend then the unrolled mat with an expectant expression. Daisuke's eyes narrowed and he stubbornly shook his head to dispel any idea the boy had. He took a turn to stare at the mat then Takeru, and his stare was met with equally unhappy eyes. Both knew that someone was going to have to take the mother spot, but neither was going down without a fight.

"I'm the real father." Takeru hissed at him and motioned to the mat, "I need to learn these things from the father's side."

Daisuke waved a hand in front of Takeru's face, "Earth to Takeru. I signed up to meet a cute teacher and not to role play as a pregnant lady."

"That really doesn't top expectant father."

A groan escaped the brunet's mouth, but he quieted the sound when Saito eyed them. After a moment, he pulled out a coin and readied it to be flipped, "Fine. Heads you're mom and tails I am not mom."

"How stupid do you think I am?" Takeru dropped the note pad and crossed his arms in growing annoyance.

"Okay," Daisuke flipped the coin in the air and corrected his earlier trick statement. "Tails… Damn it."

"After you, mother." A wicked grin spread across Takeru's lips as he and Daisuke sat down on the mat and tried to awkwardly arrange themselves in the correct position. Takeru placed his long legs on either side of Daisuke and tried to ignore the strangeness of trying to give his best friend a shoulder rub. The stiffness of Daisuke's shoulders convinced the blond that his friend was not too thrilled about the whole event either..

The scowl on the brunet's face was so prominent that it actually began to cause him some facial soreness. He hated the weird warmth that Takeru's legs gave him, he detested the poor attempt at a shoulder massage, and he was almost certain that Saito was getting a sick pleasure out of torturing him. Every time his eyes locked with her own, she gave him a sugary smile that most of his teachers had only offered when he had been in high school detention.

"Now," She broke her eye lock with Daisuke and looked over every face in the crowd. "I want our mommies to lean back into the daddies chest. Then we are going to assume the birthing position, and start imagining our bodies changing as the impending labor starts."

"Oh, hell no!" Daisuke hissed to Takeru and tried to scramble out of the position. He felt the blond pull him back down and tilted his head to stare at the boy, "There is a special place in the after life for monsters like you and Saito."

"Yeah. It is right next to the one were men murdered by their angry pregnant wives go." Takeru kept his arms wrapped around Daisuke's shoulders and tried to explain what the birthing position was. He had been surprised when Daisuke agreed to sit on the mat in the first place, and figured it would take a little more incentive to get the brunet to lay back, spread his legs a tad, and do the breathing techniques. "Look, you help me not get thrown out of class, and I'll…. I'll…"

"Name your first born after me?" Daisuke joked and figured the statement would nix any of Takeru's plans to hold him hostage any longer. There was no way he was desperate enough to pull off a stunt like that. Hikari would kill him before he could even get a suggestion like that out.

"Only if you get in the position and start imagining your cervix dilating."

The answer was so blunt and direct, that it left Daisuke speechless. Never the less, he leaned back and propped his legs up so that his knees were bent and pointing up to the ceiling. If Takeru was desperate enough to pull out that card, he was desperate enough to do other crazy things. Things that Daisuke was not particularly interested in witnessing or being a part of.

"Now everyone take a deep breath," Saito walked between the couples and spent a particularly long amount of time watching her two oddballs attempt to relax and still keep their guards up. "Now I want you to imagine that your cervix is dilating wider and wider. Keep your breathing in time with your partner."

"Takeru," Daisuke mumbled between taking his breaths, "What. Is. A. Cervix. Anyway?"

"You don't want to know." He shivered as the memory of Arai Sensei's first long lecture, and slide show, about the mechanics of birth rolled through his mind. "Just keep breathing."

When the two boys had shown up at her classroom door, Saito had been almost certain that they were nothing but troublemakers. In fact, she had been ready to throw them out until she noticed their names were on the official roll sheet. At least, the blond was listed with a young woman on the sheet. The brunet, who had spent a _great_ amount of effort imagining his fictitious birth scene, had been a drag on her class at first, but was now proving to be quite the interesting addition. His acting had been one of the most accurate portrayals of birth she had ever seen, a fact that both fascinated and terrified her. It hadn't slipped her mind when she mentioned it was time for the video that the boy's blond partner sighed in relief and pulled back out his notepad. Apparently, he was as glad as she that the acting half was done for the day.

"We get a movie?" Daisuke had located the snacks Takeru kept in the bag and munched loudly as his friend filled in the notes he had missed taking during their physical activities. "Hope it is an action flick."

"Really?" The blond spared him a glance; "You think we would watch an action movie during a child-birth class?"

"Some of us earned a break after pushing out a watermelon from a lemon sized space." Daisuke shot back.

"For the last time," Takeru grumbled and rubbed his throbbing temple, "You didn't give birth. You just laid on the ground and yelled like a banshee."

"At least I didn't get a 'you need to try harder' speech from the teacher like somebody. This birth thing is a snap. I can't understand why women would compl-"

"What?" Takeru noticed his friend had stopped talking and looked up to see the boy's eyes were staring at something in the distance.

"What the heck is that?!"

As the words tumbled out of Daisuke's mouth, Takeru tilted his head to look up at the bright television in the front of the room. On the screen was an image he had become, unfortunately, well acquainted with over the last few months of Hikari's pregnancy. Although he had never seen a live movie of it before, he was pretty sure he was handling it better than Daisuke was. The brunet looked white as a sheet and was cupping a hand over his mouth.

"That," Takeru said as his friend scrambled to his feet and rushed towards the door before the nausea overtook him, "Is the thing you said would be a snap. Remember? You said that you couldn't imagine why women complain about giving birth because it is _so_ easy."

Daisuke stood by the trashcan at the front of the room, and watched every set of female eyes stare into his very soul. Their expressions darkened and reminded him yet again of a tribe about to attack the unsuspecting villagers. He offered them a nervous smile and held up his hands to prove he hadn't meant to offend anyone, "I didn't mean it was easy… I meant it was hard. Very hard. But not so hard that you lovely ladies couldn't do it."

As the women growled and Takeru gave a small laugh under his breath, Daisuke glared at his friend and mouthed a quick, 'You will pay for this!'

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**Weird chapter. But I couldn't help but be amused by the idea of those two in a birthing class. I don't really know if Japan has completely different maternal course selections then the other countries, but I figure we can just use our imaginations for today and pretend it is the same lol. **


	14. Honesty

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.**

**This chapter is a little darker then the others, but hopefully it was handled in a considerate way.**

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Hida Iori hated that black suit.

As he slipped on the stiff jacket, he avoided looking into the mirror. The last ting he wanted to see was his reflection in that horrible outfit. It was completely irrational to be angry at a piece of clothing, but he still _hated_ that black suit. The garment was usually hidden in the very back of his closet, next to a notoriously horrible miniature version. Black meant death and each time he had put on those suits death had hung in the air. It was an unmistakable feeling, like ice in your veins and a constant pressure threatening to collapse your lungs at any given moment.

As much as he detested himself for it, part of him wished that his loved ones had just fought a little longer or a little harder. But they had fought. They had fought with every fiber of their being to stay with their loved ones in this world. Every time he found himself doubting the strength and will to live on in his own heart, he thought about that fact. If the people who meant so much to him could face such obstacles and tribulations, he could make it through another day. He had to be strong for them. He had to carry on their memory.

Still, if he had one wish, it would be to have them back in his life. How long had it been since his parents' warm arms had wrapped around him and offered the love only they could give? It was hard to remember his father's voice now, but he could easily recall his mother's gentle tone. The last thing she had ever said to him was to keep living no matter what. That was the part he still had trouble understanding. How did people go through life when the affectionate greeting of their loved one was replaced with a cold tombstone or container of ashes?

One of his co-workers, whom he had a casual friendly relationship with, had taken it upon himself to point out that this new death was not the first Iori had been through. Of course, that didn't make it any easier in the boy's opinion. Breaking one bone didn't make you immune from the pain of a different bone break. The only thing it offered was the chance to possibly find some way to learn to cope with the pain and raging emotions of such an event. Losing his parents had been the hardest thing he ever thought he would face. In a tiny, bittersweet, way part of him could somewhat reconcile with the fact that it followed a natural pattern of life. Children were supposed to live past their parents and their children would do the same. He just never expected, or imagined, what it would be like to outlive one of his best friends.

There had always been twelve of them through each adventure. Sure, he had not been a member of the original Digidestined group, but the original group had bonded closely with each of the second-generation members. Iori felt perfectly comfortable calling each of them his best friend. How could he not, when they had accomplished so much together? He had twelve amazing friends who would jump to his aid the minute he called out to them. Well, he had twelve… now, it was just eleven.

No one had seen it coming, and some of their group still couldn't accept the reality of the situation. They couldn't begin to process the idea that one of their own was gone. He had seemed so happy and healthy the last time Iori had seen him. They had joked about taking the entire group and their families on a cruise around the world. Who would have dared to believe his friend would never get the chance to even see the ocean one more time? In the back of his heart, Iori wished he would have known that it was the last time he would see his friend. Honestly, he had no Earthly idea what he would have done with that knowledge, but he could have at least made sure to hug his friend one more time.

"Taichi?" Iori looked up from the choppy water when he heard the door open behind him.

The entire group had gathered at Mimi's ocean side home after the funeral. It was a bit of a drive from where they held the small, secluded ceremony, but it was out-of-the-way enough to allow them to grieve in privacy. Most of the group was inside trying to stomach a few pieces of food and making sure their children didn't destroy any of Mimi's valuable decorations. Iori had been glad to see the tiniest sprouts of smiles on his friend's faces when the kids said or did something silly. Even though they functioned as best they could, he could see the harsher truth in their eyes. They weren't ready to move on with life, and Iori wasn't completely sure he would ever be able to either.

"Hey…" The leader's voice was hollow and held a raspy quality accomplished only by the emotionally drained. He sat down next to Iori and hung his legs off the deck, as his eyes scanned the uneasy waters for something in the distance.

They sat in silence for a few minutes with only the distant cry of sea birds to break the hush. Iori found himself drawn to the other man's face when Taichi stifled a jagged breath and leaned his head on the wooden railing. The youthful man had always given off a young aura due to his wild hair, tan skin, and athletic build. It was hard to remember the glow his skin used to give off these days. Where there had once been brightness and joy, there was now paleness and blank stares. Although he deemed all the older kids as his dear friends, Iori was mature enough to realize the older group was having the hardest time with this death. It wasn't easy for anyone, but the loss of their friend hit even harder on others.

"You think he would have liked this?" Taichi noticed Iori's curious stare and tried to break the tension.

"I think he would have liked the fact that we were all together."

"Yeah." Taichi nodded his head slowly and looked back out at the water, "I just… it still doesn't seem real. I keep waiting to wake up and discover that this was some horrible practical joke. Or even some disastrous medical mishap. Like maybe he is lying in a bed somewhere with amnesia or something…."

It was painful to hear the last hopes of a sinking soul, "I know."

"It isn't fair." Taichi's broken voice shifted into a new rage filled one, "It is not fucking fair! He wasn't supposed to die before…"

"Before?" Iori treaded carefully, not wanting to push Taichi or upset him more.

"Not before me? Not before all of us? At least, not before his own father…" He shifted awkwardly and let out a long, heavy sigh of frustration. Once the air had fully escaped his lungs he turned back to face his friend, "This wasn't how it was supposed to go. The damn legend said there would be eight of us! There was always going to be the eight of us! What kind of fucked up legend tears people apart like that?!"

Taichi's sudden outburst and change in normal vocabulary caught Iori off guard. It wasn't the first time he had seen the boy break down and scream about the unfair quality of life. The night they received the notification phone call, Taichi had gone berserk. Between the tears and screams, he had managed to punch quite the set of holes in his living room wall. Even now, Iori could see the bandages covering Taichi's injured knuckles. All Iori could think about was the fact he hadn't known what to say that night, and he still didn't know what to tell Taichi.

When his father had passed away, Iori had been too young to understand the comments of friends and family members. All he really remembered was being hugged tightly by a line of people and told how brave he was. As an adult, he had gained a little more perspective on the power words held. After his mother had passed away, he began to detest the family members who tried to tell him, '_You need to be stronger now._' or '_You shouldn't dwell on this. You need to move onward._' Their comments had done nothing but add guilt to his pile. He had been deep in the stages of grief and already worrying if his emotional state would affect his wife and daughter poorly, without the extra comments from outside sources. The last thing he planned to do was tell Taichi some cover-all that would do nothing to help him and only leave Iori with a little less awkwardness.

"I don't know why it happened. Sometimes, horrible things happen and we never know why, Taichi."

The older brunet took a slow breath and tried to fight back the tears threatening to leak from the corners of his eyes.

"But that doesn't mean we will forget him or replace him. He will always be here with us."

"You know," Another slow breath filled Taichi's lungs as he wiped away the first stray tear, "Sometimes life is honestly fucked up."

Iori was growing used to Taichi's emotionally overloaded speaking pattern, so he didn't blink an eye at the statement. Instead, he reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out an old piece of paper. The paper had been kept in the pocket since his mother's passing and he hadn't been able to look over it since the funeral. But he figured, if his own words failed him, the paragraph on the paper might offer some help on the road to mourning. "Here."

Taichi took the piece of paper and let his eyes scan over the faded ink;

'_Do not stand _

_at my grave and weep. _

_I am not there. I do not sleep. _

_I am a thousand winds _

_that blow. _

_I am the diamond glints on snow. _

_I am the sunlight _

_on ripened grain. _

_I am the gentle autumn rain. _

_When you awake in the _

_morning's hush _

_I am the soft uplifting rush _

_of quiet birds in circling flight. _

_I am the soft star that _

_shines at night. _

_Do not stand at my grave and cry _

_I am not there. _

_I did not die._'

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**Well, I wanted to try writing something a little deeper or darker and this is what came out. I can't decide if I wrote Iori correctly or if he is very out of character in this story. The poem is by Mary Elizabeth Frye. **


	15. Drama

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. **

**I wanted to say a special thank you to my reviewers. I am so glad to see that the last chapter was well received. This one will be a break from the sadness theme and hopefully be a nice change. The goal of this story was to create a balanced amount of chapters showing both happy and sad moments in the lives of our Digidestineds.**

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The familiar sounds of a highly competitive football match blared through the television's speakers and mingled with the shouts of the apartment's only resident. Yagami Taichi was sprawled out on the couch, with his sock coated feet propped on the armrest and a large bowl of popcorn on his lap. He cursed at the screen when the referee yellow carded his favorite player. It wasn't often that the apartment was free of people to chastise him for such a remark, and he was going to take full advantage of his alone time.

As the referee pulled a red card out, Taichi sat up and stared intently at the screen. He couldn't believe that the best player on the team could possibly be benched at such a crucial moment. The crowd on television booed the decision and Taichi joined them from his cozy living room viewing space. His popcorn bowl fell to the floor and scattered the multiple uneaten pieces around the ground. It didn't matter to the man badmouthing the ref; he was too busy focusing on what had to be the worst possible thing that could happen on his day off.

Before his mouth could offer another verbal attack at the unfair call, the apartment door busted open and revealed a very distressed looking Yagami Haru. Taichi spotted his daughter and immediately bit his lip to avoid shouting anything he would regret later. The last thing he wanted on his day off was to receive a lecture that night about not using curse words in front of their daughter. To avoid thinking up anymore clever places the referee could send his opinion, Taichi stared at his child as she trudged across the living room and towards her bedroom.

"Hey Haru." He smiled at her and noticed her eyes were red and puffy. His brow dropped immediately as various images of horrible situations flashed through his mind, "Haru? What's wrong sport?"

She ignored his question and continued the march to her bedroom. When he heard the door slam shut, his mind started to run away with him. Haru had always been a happy-go-lucky kid, a trait that she had inherited from him, so he had trouble understanding what could put her in this kind of funk. She had been so excited to meet up with her friends that morning for some baseball game, but now she was not even speaking to him. What happened between the game and now?

He brushed off the popcorn from his loose-fitting t-shirt and walked to her door. After his knock was met with silence, he placed his ear against the door and heard the heart breaking sound of sobbing. Whatever had happened to his daughter was worse than he first expected, and fueled his desire to get to the bottom of this mess. Although he opened the door without being given any form of permission, he knocked on the frame once more before approaching his daughter.

"Haru?" He questioned her softly as he tried to walk past the multiple piles of clothing on the floor; another trait she had inherited from him. "What is going on?"

The fifteen-year-old girl sniffled and pulled her legs up to her chest. She gave her dad a quick glance, then turned her head back down to her feet. It didn't derail the man's determination in the slightest, and soon her father was perched next to her on the bed. He reached over to the nightstand, plucked a tissue from the box, and offered it to her.

"Thanks." She blew her nose gently and curled into the side of his body.

No matter how old his daughter became, it seemed she always fit perfectly at his side. Taichi hugged Haru tightly and leaned his head on her soft hair. It was hard to believe it had been multiple years since they sat in this same position when she forced him to read her those monotonous princess stories. Then again, he would be willing to suffer through another year of princess books if it would somehow alter his daughter's current emotional state.

"You going to tell me what happened?" He tried his hardest to remain calm and not demand the names and addresses of the people who had hurt her. That would come in time, but for now he was going to hug his daughter and try to find out the details.

"I broke…" She paused and took a slow, jagged breath, "I broke up with Yuuto."

"Finally." Taichi sighed, unable to contain his happiness that his daughter finally cut ties with that loser. She deserved someone ten times better than that punk! At least now he wouldn't have to pretend to be civil to the jerk or fake nice conversations about him.

"Dad!" Haru groaned and mirrored the same type of glare he had sent the football referee earlier in the day.

"Uh… sorry." He rubbed the back of his head and offered a sheepish grin. Apparently, they weren't quite to the part of the breakup were he could share his honest hatred of Yuuto with Haru. It was a shame too, since he had so many complaints against the jerk, "So what happened?"

"I caught him kissing another girl at the game… I can't believe I would be stupid enough to not see that he was cheating on me!"

As the tears started to roll down Haru's cheeks, she buried her head in Taichi's shoulder and started mumbling some rather negative things about herself. A new rage filled Taichi as he started to imagine the many ways he could _dispose _of the boy stupid enough to hurt his little girl. All he had to do was make it look like an accident, which Koushiro or Jou could probably help with given their tech and medical skills. Heck, if it came down to it Taichi was almost certain he could beat the snot out of the thin kid himself. It wouldn't be the first time he imagined socking the boy right in the mouth.

"Haru," He pushed his thoughts of vengeance, mostly, to the side as a new round of self-depreciating words escaped his daughter's mouth. Yuuto would pay, somehow, that was certain and unavoidable. But, the pressing matter at hand was the girl he viewed as the most beautiful in the world calling herself a long list of untrue names. "You are not an idiot or stupid or dumb Haru. You are the smartest, kindest, absolutely best football playing girl I know!"

Despite her tears, the girl managed a weak smile, "I wouldn't tell aunt Sora that last part."

"There is my girl." Taichi smiled at her attempt at a joke. He turned his attention to her room as she rested her head on his shoulder once again, and started to notice how much the space had changed in the past few years. Instead of mountains of stuffed animals, there were only a few perched on the end of her bed. Most of the colorful pictures she had drawn to decorate the walls of her room, were hidden away in boxes and replaced with posters of her favorite bands and celebrities. The room was physically different, but the most glaring change to Taichi was emotional. Watching his daughter suffer through her first broken heart forced the idea that she was actually growing up to enter his head.

"Dad?" She questioned him softly as his breath slowed to a sleepier pace, "Do boys ever grow up?"

He chuckled at the question and kissed the top of her head, "I'll let you know when I hit that milestone."

Haru laughed at his joke and hugged him as tight as her arm muscles could muster, "Seriously, dad. Does it get any better?"

Taichi sighed softly and took a moment to think over her question. What could he tell her? Odds were that she was probably going to have to suffer a few more heartaches before finding her soul mate. Everyone had to go through those hard times it seemed, but Taichi still wished his daughter could skip the process. No parent wanted their child to have to suffer through these types of things, but no parent had found a solution to the problem yet either. Well, there was that one fairy tale were the girl was locked in the tower away from boys, but he was pretty sure that one hadn't ended well.

"Haru, I promise you'll find the right person someday. He'll be great and you'll be happy, and I'll still think he isn't good enough for my girl."

She smiled at him and seemed to be doing a little better. At least, Taichi's limited experience with women told him she was doing a smidgen better. He had gotten at least one real smile to appear behind the tears and puffy cheeks, so that seemed like a step in the right direction. Now if he could just get her to do something better than sobbing over the loss of an idiot. Whenever he was upset, he had always turned to football. The rush running around the field gave him was unmistakable and always helped to clear his head.

"You know what might make you feel better?" He smiled at her and tried to psych her up for the idea.

"I really don't feel like playing football dad." She rubbed her wet eyes and let out a soft sigh.

The idea that someone could not view football as the perfect stress reliever still confused Taichi. Even though the majority of his friends and family didn't take him up on his football game cheer up program, he still offered it every time a problem arose. A small part of him was determined to convince every person in his life that football was the answer to any life problem. Lucky for Haru, he had also learned a different stress-relieving trick from a certain blond.

"Alright," He grinned and untangled himself from her arms, "Then you have to take me up on my other idea. Grab your permanent marker set and meet me in the kitchen."

By the time Haru had located her markers in the mess that was once a desk, Taichi had completely rearranged the kitchen and dining area. He had shoved the table into the opposite corner, leaving a large amount of space leading into the kitchen free. He perched on the edge of the table with a medium-sized stack of plates at his side. When he caught sight of Haru, he ushered her over to him and patted the empty space on the other side of the plate stack.

"What are you doing dad?"

He patted the empty space again and waited till she joined him before explaining his mad scientist plans, "An old stress relief trick. Write whatever is upsetting you on the plate and then smash it as hard as you can on the ground."

Haru raised a skeptical eyebrow, "You aren't serious, right?"

Taichi grabbed a marker from her pack, scribbled the name of his favorite player and the fact he was red carded on a plate, then threw it as hard as he could at the opposite side of the kitchen. When it hit the floor and broke into several pieces, Haru jumped in surprise and slight excitement. She knew her dad had a wild streak, but this seemed a little strange even for him. Of course, the strangeness was being squelched by her growing desire to try throwing a plate across the room. She spared him one last glance and he winked at her playfully.

Her own Yagami wild side began to snap into action and before she knew it, she was flinging a plate with Yuuto's name across the room. When the telltale crash noise reached her ears, a large smile broke out onto her face. It didn't change the fact the guy she thought loved her turned out to be a cheater, but it helped pad the wound a little. And it was definitely the most creative stress-reliever she had ever heard of or experienced in her life.

"Where in the world did you come up with this?" She watched Taichi scribble something about his job on another plate, before throwing the one with Yuuto's secret girlfriend's name on it.

"Let's just say," He slammed the plate on the tile and grinned at his favorite girl, "I have had quite a few opportunities to enjoy stress-relieving techniques in my life. What about you? Feeling any better?"

"Actuall-"

A thundering pounding on the door interrupted Haru and forced Taichi to mutter a curse word under his breath. She wasn't sure what was going on until the familiar voice of their apartment manager filtered through the wooden door. The man was angry and seemed to be demanding to see Taichi right away. Her father made no move to open the door, and merely held a finger up to his lips to signal to Haru that they should be quiet.

She raised and eyebrow and gave a silent laugh, "I guess you forgot we were on the third floor, daddy?"

"Nah," He gave her that famous carefree grin and offered a thumbs up, "Hiding from the manager from the apartment below us is just another part of my master plan."

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**This chapter was originally going to include Koushiro, but I opted out of it at the last-minute. I always liked his character, but he didn't seem to fit in the plan for this chapter as well as I originally thought he would. Hopefully this chapter was an interesting read for all of you. I must say that I wonder what kind of parent Taichi would be.**


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